


Covenant of Liars

by Tenshinrtaiga



Category: Pretty Little Liars, The Covenant (2006)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:59:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6773737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenshinrtaiga/pseuds/Tenshinrtaiga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one really knows how the Power came to be. Not even the Book of Damnation recorded its beginning. But those who mastered it have always been hunted. In the middle of the 17th Century, many escaped the brutal Witch-hunting in England and France by coming to America. As the brutal persecution of those with the Power spread throughout Massachusetts, the ten families of Ipswich (Danvers, Hastings, DiLaurentis, Putnam, Parry, Fields, Montgomery, Garwin, Simms and Marin) formed a Covenant of silence. And for 300 years it has kept them safe. Until now.</p><p>Alison, Caleb, Spencer, Pogue, Reid, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Tyler have to deal not only with their own high school drama, but the strange supernatural ones that keep popping up. And it doesn't help that the Covenant of silence is splitting at the seams as Spencer deals with her family, Caleb finds himself in love with someone else and Aria falls for her new teacher. And of course, further splitting the group, there's Alison and the girls as they try and secretly deal with That Jenna Thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Crossover Big Bang. Much thanks to my artist dhfreak for the awesome art.

[ ](http://pics.livejournal.com/tenshinrtaiga/pic/0006ae9r/)

 

“What’s up, guys?” Hanna greeted with a grin as she and Reid snuck up behind the others.

“Where were you?” Tyler asked the two blondes with a scowl. “Stopped by to give you both a lift.”

“Had things to do,” Reid answered as he peered over the rock cliff, looking down on the raging party occurring below them. “How’s the party?” he asked curiously.

“Dunno,” Pogue muttered. “Just got here.”

Reid smirked, “Well, hell, boys-” Spencer gave a loud, meaningful cough. “and girls,” Reid saved. “Let’s drop in,” he grinned as he kicked some rocks over the edge, his eyes flaring with power as he summoned his magic and nonchalantly stepped over the edge of the cliff.

“Oh, hell yeah!” Hanna cheered with a grin, following him over.

“Hanna!” Caleb yelled loudly down at her disappearing form.

Alison sauntered over with a smug grin. “Oh, let them do what they want, Caleb. It’s not like it’s gonna kill us… yet.” And with those words, she too descended from the cliff face.

With an apologetic look on her face, Aria followed and then Pogue and Emily, leaving only Spencer and Caleb alone at the top. With a sigh and a shared look of annoyance, the two locked hands, intertwining their fingers, and jumped over the edge.

Once they landed, they looked up to realize that the Covenant had already paired off. Reid had an arm slung over Aria’s shoulders as the two gazed around at all of the party goers, their head already beginning to bob to the intense beat of the music. Pogue and Hanna were next to them searching the crowds, presumably for Kate: Pogue’s girlfriend and one of Hanna’s best friends. Behind them loitered Emily and Tyler who were quietly talking and not paying an ounce of attention to the party going on in front of them. Lastly, stood Alison: alone and slightly away from the others, just the way she liked it. She always acted like she was better than everyone else; even her own siblings.

“I’ll catch up to you later,” Alison spoke, already heading towards the party without a second glance back.

Well used to this, the others barely blinked as the blonde abandoned them in search of her own brand of fun. “Let’s go,” Caleb spoke as he wrapped an arm around Spencer’s waist and led the group into the heart of the festivities.

The eight of them drew stares as they got closer to the party-goers. Pogue spotted Kate and got Caleb’s attention, nodding his head towards her. Caleb automatically shifted slightly so that they could head towards the mocha skinned girl, his eyes trailing the form of her blonde friend before determinately looking away. He had a girlfriend. A very hot, very smart, very athletic girlfriend named Spencer Hastings. He should not be looking at the new girl.

“The Children of Ipswich,” they heard Kate say to her friend.

“Hey, Kate,” Caleb greeted as he came upon the two.

Kate looked up at him with a slightly flirtatious grin, “Caleb,” before running up to her boyfriend and giving him a quick kiss. “Mmm. You’re late,” she pouted up at Pogue before giving Hanna a quick hug in hello.

“I had a thing with the family,” Pogue explained as he slipped his arms around her waist. “Who’s this?” he asked looking at her friend.

“My new roommate,” Kate turned to face the blonde as she began giving introductions. ”Sarah, this is Pogue Parry, Hanna Marin, Tyler Simms, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Reid-“

“Garwin,” the blond interrupted to shake Sarah’s hand. “Good evening,” he flirted, ignoring Aria who was still tucked into his side.

Aria rolled her eyes but gave the boy a fond grin, clearly used to her boyfriend’s flirtatious ways. “Ignore him,” she said. “He’s an idiot.” Reid protested this loudly but it was drowned out by his friends’ laughter.

“Caleb Danvers.” Caleb stuck out his hand, continuing Kate’s introductions. His brown eyes locked on Sarah’s blue ones and for a moment, he could think of nothing but how beautiful they were. Thankfully, that moment passed too quickly for anyone to notice. “And my girlfriend Spencer Hastings.” He motioned to the tall brunette at his side.

“Hey, Caleb,” a high pitched voice interrupted.

“Mona,” Caleb replied with a hint of a sigh in his words. Around him, the others all gave rolls of their eyes, already seeing how this conversation was going to end.

“How was your summer?” she asked flirtatiously, totally ignoring the scoff Spencer gave.

Caleb looked behind Mona at Sarah, self-conscious of what he should do. “Uhm.”

Mona took his distraction as an opportunity and whirled around to face the new girl. “I’m Mona.”

“Sarah,” she replied with a guarded smile.

“Oh, right. From the Boston public. Tell me, how does one go about getting into Spencer from a public?” Mona asked cruelly.

“Mona!” Hanna yelled, walking up to the girl who also happened to be one of her best friends. “Knock it off,” she growled before smiling awkwardly at Sarah.

“Problems?” Noel asked as he came up to the group under the guise of rescuing his girlfriend.

Caleb gave the boy a caustic smile already knowing where this was heading. “I don’t want any trouble, Noel.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Noel responded, but instead of looking at Caleb, he was leering at Aria. Feeling his girlfriend shift uncomfortably under his arm, Reid snarled at the boy causing her discomfort.

“Posers make me wanna puke,” Aaron sneered next to his best friend.

“Is that right?” Reid jumped in, happy to get in the guy’s face.

Caleb shoved an arm out just in time to stop Reid from starting a fight. “Hey, hey. Let it go.”

“I think you owe Mona an apology,” Noel spoke.

“Actually, I think Mona owes Sarah the apology,” Caleb responded firmly, not backing down. Noel lashed out, shoving Caleb a few steps back, but before any of the boys could start throwing punches, the new boy showed up.

“You were being kinda bitchy,” he addressed Mona as he got in between the two fighting boys.

While the others were distracted, Reid allowed his eyes to flash and a moment later, Aaron was throwing up on Noel. The girls were all making disgusted sounds, but Caleb immediately glared at Reid, stopping the boy’s snickers.

“Guys! Gil just called. He said he saw three cop cars heading this way on old Dell Road!” a boy announced from the music area causing the crowd to quickly disperse. Not having enough time to make it up to the Mustang and BMW on the cliff, the Covenant made their way to the nearby woods.

“Need a ride?” Caleb tossed over his shoulder as he quickly walked through the dense trees.

“No, Sarah drove us out here,” Kate replied as she snuggled up to Pogue’s buff body in the chilly weather.

“See you back at the dorms?” the boy asked flicking a long piece of hair out of his face.

“It’s getting late. I’m just gonna crash,” she replied regretfully as she leaned up for a quick kiss. “Call me in the morning?”

“I could use a lift,” the new boy interrupted from where he was hanging back slightly.

“No problem!” Kate smiled over her shoulder at him.

“Hey, nice going back there,” Caleb smiled. “Caleb.”

“Chase,” he introduced. “I thought that guy and I were about to go at it. His friend’s puking sure came at an opportune time.”

“Didn’t it though?” Reid asked, smirking down at Aria who rolled her eyes but grinned at the prank.

The group began splitting up. Sarah, Kate and Chase headed toward Sarah’s beat up car, Reid, Aria, Tyler and Caleb headed toward Tyler’s Hummer and lastly Hanna, Pogue, Emily and Spencer headed toward Emily’s Corolla. “Wait a second,” Spencer cried out drawing everyone’s attention. “Where’s Ali?”

This caused the other children of Ispwich to look around as if the blonde girl was just going to pop out of the woodwork. “Maybe she already left,” Emily suggested. The others warily agreed, but slowly got into their cars; a complete turn about to the speed they were going earlier.

“My car won’t start!” Sarah yelled as the other two cars were about to pull out.

“I can fix it for you,” Reid offered with a smirk, getting out of the Hummer.

“Reid,” Caleb muttered in annoyance, but said nothing more. Aria and Reid’s relationship puzzled the rest of the school since they were obviously together and yet the two continued to flirt and hook up with other people. It seemed to make no sense. Only their siblings knew that while the two cared a lot about each other, they were casual.

“We can’t all be the It-Couple,” Reid muttered as he passed by Caleb’s window, jerking his head toward Spencer who was sitting in the other car. And it was true. The school seemed to worship the ground Caleb and Spencer walked on. The two had been dating for two years and never so much as had a real fight. They were both top of their class. He was captain of the swim team and her the field hockey team. They both came from the richest families in town and their families (along with the other eight) founded the town they lived in. They seemed like the perfect pair.

Reid popped the hood and used his magic. He waited a beat before calling out “Try it again” to the blonde behind the wheel.

Sarah did as told and squealed when the engine purred. “Thank you!” she yelled out the window as Reid made his way back to the Hummer. Sarah pealed out, but Emily waited for the others.

Hearing the sirens, Reid opened the front door. “Gotta bolt. Move over.”

“It’s my car!” Tyler protested.

Caleb spoke up from the back seat, “Move over, Baby Boy. Now!”

Tyler sighed, but did as told, unwilling to argue with their leader. Reid stuck his head out of the window. “We’ll take care of the cops. You guys meet us at the cliffs.” Emily nodded and raced out of the forest, Reid not far behind.

Reid, driving extremely recklessly, immediately caught the cops’ attention. Caleb peered behind him and groaned when he saw how close the cops were getting to them. “Ah. Gotta pull over.”

“Oh, you wanna stop? That’ll impress Harvard,” Reid smirked from the driver’s seat.

Once more, Caleb peered behind him to take a good look at the cops. “Alright, what the hell. Let’s lose ‘em.” He leaned forward to see where they were. He and the others grew up in these woods since these were the very woods that surrounded the old Putnam barn and the original Ipswich colony. Immediately recognizing his surroundings, he gestured to the left. “Hey, cut across Marblehead. Might as well have some fun while we’re at it.”

A particularly jarring jump earned a scream from Aria and a whoop from Tyler. In the fog, they could just barely make out the Marblehead cliffs in the distance. “Alright, guys. You ready?” Reid asked as he continued driving straight ahead.

“So ready,” Aria agreed with a smile as her eyes went black with Power. It had been a while since she last Used and she was looking forward to the little prank.

“Harry Potter can kiss my ASS!” Reid shouted as he drove the car over the edge of the cliffs, eyes black the entire time. This wasn’t the first time they’d pulled something like this and it was unlikely to be the last. They free fell through the air for several seconds, plunging toward the Atlantic before Caleb finally shaped their power and began controlling the car. He lifted the vehicle high into the sky, thankful for the foggy night as he positioned the Hummer behind the cop car and let it drop.

Once again, the high of free falling, this time in addition to the looks on the police officers’ faces caused all four to laugh hysterically as Reid shifted into reverse and drove out of the area before the cops could collect themselves enough to chase after them.

This time, with no worries about who was chasing them, they made their way back to the Ole Dell cliffs. At the top, Emily’s Corolla was parked next to Caleb’s Mustang and Hanna’s BMW. Reid, Caleb, Tyler and Aria got out of the car to meet up with the other four.

“Hey, everything go okay?” Pogue asked.

Reid smirked. “It went great. We cut across Marblehead. Gave the cops a real scare,” he laughed.

Pogue raised an eyebrow at Caleb, surprised that the man would go along with that since Caleb was usually the one saying not to Use their magic. Caleb opted not to disclose that it had been his idea. Even he needed to let loose and have some fun once and a while. “Still no sign of Ali?” Caleb asked, changing the subject.

Emily, Pogue, Hanna and Spencer’s face all turned solemn. “No.” Spencer shook her head. “I hope she didn’t get into trouble.”

“You hope who didn’t get into trouble?” a voice asked behind them causing all of them to whirl around. Ali sauntered up to them, a wide smirk on her face.

“Where have you been?” Caleb growled out angrily, his frustration and worry getting the better of him.

Ali sneered at the older boy. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, _Dad._ I’m fine. Now, let’s get out of here,” she demanded, sliding into Emily’s car with no hesitation.

Caleb shook his head, but turned his back on the blonde and entered his car anyway. Spencer crawled into the back seat and Pogue into the passenger’s side. He waved to Tyler, Aria and Reid as they left in the Hummer and to Emily and Hanna in the Corolla as they all left for the dorms, but studiously ignored Alison who was ignoring him right back.

The drive back was silent as Caleb continued to stew in anger at the blatant disrespect Ali continued to show him. He wasn’t asking for much, but he was the oldest and the leader of the Covenant. Even Reid respected Caleb’s authority more than Alison and that was saying something.

Caleb dropped Pogue off at the boy’s apartment and waited for Spencer to climb into the front seat before taking off. Unable to take the silence any longer, Spencer spoke up, “So, are you coming to lunch tomorrow? I could really use you.”

“Lunch?” Caleb asked in confusion as he parked in front of Spencer’s apartment.

“We’re meeting Melissa’s fiancé tomorrow, remember?” she asked, turning in her seat to face him seeing that she now had his full attention.

Caleb mentally went through his calendar before wincing. “I can’t. I promised my mom I’d pick up dad’s medicine.”

Spencer nodded in understanding. She couldn’t imagine what it must feel like for Caleb, to have to face his decrepit father. Sure, all the witches in the family aged when they Used, but William Danvers was the only one of them to get so addicted that he looked like he was over a hundred when he was only forty. Of the female witches, Hanna’s mom looked the oldest, but she was so beautiful that no one really commented on the lines around her eyes and face.

“Okay,” she nodded. “I’ll tell mom and dad you say hello.” Caleb nodded in agreement before leaning in for a goodbye kiss. As their lips met, Spencer automatically sank her hand into Caleb’s thick dark hair as Caleb’s hand reached up to cup her cheek. As their tongue met in a familiar dance, Spencer couldn’t help but think, and not for the first time, that if she had a brother, this would probably be what it felt like to kiss him.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah cautiously crept down the dark hallways of the dormitory, still feeling like there were eyes boring into her back. She turned to take another look behind her as she turned the corner. Seeing nothing, she faced back around but gave a small, startled gasp.

Hearing the sound, Reid and Aria pulled away from each other as they dazedly turned to see who had interrupted their steadily progressing make-out session. “Oh, Sarah,” Aria said with a smile.

“Hi,” the blonde returned weakly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay.” Aria untangled herself from Reid. “Are you alright? You look kinda freaked.”

“I just came back from the showers,” the blonde stated obviously seeing as how she was wearing nothing but a towel. “It felt like someone was watching me.”

Reid moved forward from where he had been leaning against the wall and began to move toward Sarah, Aria not far behind him. “Let’s take a look, shall we?” he spoke as he passed the blonde by. Sarah had little choice but to follow. Coming into the still warm room, Reid and Aria both took a good look around and other than a broken light bulb, saw nothing. “Don’t see anyone,” Reid muttered, tapping his chin. The three moved back into the hallway.

“Sorry I’m being crazy,” Sarah laughed, though it sounded a little forced.

Aria shrugged easily. “It’s cool. Better safe than sorry. Especially in a dorm where both Aaron and Noel live.”

“You guys don’t really get along with them, huh?” Sarah asked in curiosity, remembering the fight from earlier.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Reid sneered as they came to an intersection.

Sarah automatically turned right before realizing she was the only one. “Oh, Aria? Where are your rooms?” she asked. She had thought that all the girls were roomed in the right wing and all of the boys in the left.

Reid gave a smirk but Aria gave her an indulgent smile. “I don’t live in the dorms,” Aria replied.

The blonde looked at her in confusion for a moment. “Then why are you- Oh. Right, sorry.” Sarah blushed lightly. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you guys later?”

“Sure,” Aria smiled. “Maybe tomorrow? I heard Kate’s dragging Hanna shopping and Hanna will probably ask me to tag along.”

Sarah smiled. “Yeah, me too. I’ll see you then.” She turned and gave both of them a wave in goodbye as she headed back to her dorm room.

She quietly slipped into her room, relieved when Kate was still awake. “Hey,” she greeted, mostly to let the other girl know she was back. “I have a question,” Sarah spoke in a muffled voice as she began putting on her pajamas. “What’s up with Reid and Aria? I mean, they’re together, right? But he was hitting on me and right in front of her too, but she didn’t seem to mind.”

Kate let out a laugh as she snuggled into her bed. “That’s a good question. One the entire school would like an answer to. No one really knows for sure, but as far as anyone can tell, they’re casual. He’s slept with other girls and she’s slept with other guys.”

“But they hang on to each other like they’re a couple,” Sarah said in confusion, quickly running a brush through her hair.

Kate shrugged. “Yeah, and sometimes they even get jealous and overprotective. Like I said, no one really gets it. Except the other Children of Ipswich, obviously. Those guys tell each other everything. Well, except for Ali.”

“Who’s Ali?” Sarah asked in confusion, not recalling that name in the introductions from earlier.

“Alison DiLaurentis. She’s a Daughter of Ipswich. I only know this because I’m with Pogue.” Kate leaned forward, speaking in a gossiping tone, “But she sort of thinks she’s better than everyone else. The other Children of Ipswich are cool. They don’t throw around their money or reputation – anymore than the rest of us do, anyway – but Ali is a whole other level. Even with her friends, she always has to be separate. Always has to be Queen Bitch.”

“That’s harsh,” Sarah said as she snuggled into her own bed.

“Mhmm,” Kate replied sleepily. “You know, Reid wasn’t the only one checking you out tonight.” Seeing that she had Sarah’s full attention, Kate smirked. “I’m pretty sure Caleb was too.”

Sarah immediately shook her head. “He has a girlfriend. A very beautiful girlfriend.”

Kate let out a scoff. “Spencer Hastings is more than just a pretty face. She and Caleb are tied for number one in our class and also for richest in this town. She’s Student Body President and on the debate team, the chess team and the literary club. She’s also captain of the field hockey team and has brought this school to Nationals three years in a row.”

“Wow,” Sarah said, more than a little surprised and impressed. “You know a lot about her.”

“It’s hard not to at this school,” Kate admitted easily. “She and Caleb run everything. They’re like the Power Couple of Spencer. Of Ipswich. Of Massachusetts.”

“And you think Caleb was hitting on me?” Sarah laughed.

Kate paused in thought for a minute. “Yeah, you’re probably right. No offense or anything. I was probably just reading too much into Caleb being friendly.” The two girls smiled at each other in good night and simultaneously reached out to turn off the lamps.

In the dark, Sarah’s mind conjured up that creepy feeling of being watched again. She let out a shaky breath before closing her eyes and making herself go to sleep.

~

Caleb jerked awake as he felt a strong tug of magic. He lay in bed gasping for a minute before turning around and lightly waking Spencer up. “Spence,” he whispered, tugging on her shoulder lightly.

“Cay?” she asked blearily. “What is it?”

“Did you feel that?” he asked.

Spencer turned around to face him, “Feel what?”

Caleb hesitated for a minute before relaxing. “Never mind. It was nothing,” he smiled. “Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep.” Spencer gave him an odd look but closed her eyes none-the-less.

The next morning, Spencer slipped on a pair of sweatpants and tied her hair up into a high ponytail. She hooked her iPod nano onto the shoulder of her tank top before reaching over and waking her boyfriend.

Spencer gave Caleb a swift kiss on the mouth once he woke before leaving for her run, fully trusting him in her apartment alone. After a quick shower, Caleb pulled on an extra set of clothes he kept at Spencer’s before leaving, locking the door behind him. He was about to get into his car when the headlines of the local paper caught his attention. He dropped a few quarters in to retrieve the paper and quickly scanned the article after he hopped into the Mustang. With a frown, he reluctantly put the paper down and began to head into town to get started on his errands. He was barely a block away when he pulled out his phone to call Pogue. “Hey,” he greeted. “Did you feel anything last night?”

“What?” Pogue asked in confusion, turning away from where he had been carefully watching the mechanic work on his motorcycle. “Like what?”

“I felt someone Using last night. Pretty hardcore too,” Caleb admitted. “It must have been Reid.”

“What makes you think it was Reid?” Pogue asked in confusion, though the answer was obvious.

Caleb barely kept from rolling his eyes. “It’s always him, but I’ve never felt it when one of us has Used the Power before, have you?”

“No,” Pogue admitted, moving away from the loud machinery. “I dunno. Maybe it’s because you’re so close to Ascending.”

Caleb internally winced at yet another reminder of his eighteenth birthday; the birthday that would change his life. He would be getting his full powers and with them, an increasing addiction that could one day lead to his death. “I dunno. Maybe. I’m telling you, it was strong enough to wake me out of a dead sleep.”

Pogue looked around suspiciously before lowering his voice. “You know he’s only using his Powers to piss you off ‘cause he’s jealous you’re Ascending first.”

“I’m telling you- Jesus!” Caleb swore as he looked to his right to find a Darkling in his passenger’s seat. His arm jerked and he swerved into the oncoming lane. The loud honking of a horn was the only warning he got as he quickly Used. The car crashed into the large sixteen wheeler and exploded in a shower of car parts before quickly reforming. Caleb stepped on the brakes the minute he had finished Using his Powers to save his life.

“What’s going on? Caleb! Pick up the phone, man!” Pogue shouted in worry.

Caleb reached down to grab his phone from where it fell to the floor. “I just saw a Darkling. It was in the form of that dead kid they found at the Dells,” he whispered hoarsely, body coated in sweat and still high from adrenaline.

Pogue paused in shock. “Yeah, I saw his picture this morning in the newspaper. But who would send you a Darkling?”

“I have no idea. Something’s wrong, I can feel it,” Caleb replied.

The long haired boy began to worry. Caleb had good instincts about this kind of thing. “Look, we gotta talk to Reid tonight. He’ll probably be at Nicky’s so we’ll see him then.”

“Definitely,” Caleb agreed before hanging up and, more cautiously this time, heading into the center of town. He had just picked up his father’s prescription medicine when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He turned and quickly spotted the speaker. “Oh, hey, Kate. What are you up to?”

“Oh, I’m just stocking up our room,” she explained nonchalantly before leaning in more seriously. “Did you hear about the dead kid?” she whispered.

Caleb paused awkwardly as he thought about the darkling he had just seen. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

“Did you know him?” Kate asked. Caleb was the most popular guy at school; he tended to know everybody.

“No. No he, uh, just transferred in,” Caleb explained, wanting to end the conversation as soon as possible.

Kate nodded seriously. “Yeah, I heard he lived on Reid and Tyler’s floor.”

Caleb felt a presence come up behind him and turned around. He blinked in surprise at Sarah, but he suppose he shouldn’t have. Sarah was Kate’s roommate. If Kate was stocking up on supplies then so was Sarah. He nodded his head and greeted the blonde girl back before turning back to the discussion.

~

“I still can’t believe your mom would do that,” Aria spoke as she munched on a twizzler.

Emily looked at her friend like she was crazy. True to form, Emily asked, “Are you crazy? That’s exactly something my mom would do.” She shook her head in anger, tension simmering under her skin.

“Maybe your mom is just looking out for you,” Hanna offered as she crunched on her own chosen snack of carrots as the three girls walked down Main St.

Emily turned to face the blonde. “Or maybe my mom can’t handle the fact that I’m gay and is trying to ruin my relationship with Maya.”

Aria hesitantly broke in. “Well, Maya’s going away to that camp so are you two still…” she asked hesitantly.

Emily reached out for one of Hanna’s carrots and angrily chomped. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “She left so suddenly, we didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.”

Aria and Hanna simultaneously wrapped an arm around their friend. “It’ll be okay, Em,” Aria comforted. “You’ll figure things out. And if you and Maya can’t be together then you’ll find someone else. Someone better.”

“Someone not a drug addict,” Hanna helpfully put in causing the other two to let out small laughs as they walked into the drug store.

“Caleb!” Aria smiled brightly as she saw him standing with Kate, Sarah and Chase. The group gave a round of greetings as they all congregated in the middle of the shop.

Hanna looked around in search of something. “Where’s Spence?” she finally asked.

“Lunch with the family,” Caleb explained. “She’s meeting the fiancé.”

“Oooh,” all the girls minus Sarah said simultaneously.

Sarah looked on confused, her expression mirrored on Chase. “Wait, what?” she asked.

“Melissa,” Hanna explained with emphasis before remembering that she was talking to new students. “Melissa is Spencer’s crazy older sister. She’s a perfectionist to the extreme. In the eyes of the Hastings family, she can do no wrong. Which is crazy because she’s a complete bitch and yet somehow she always makes Spencer look like the bad guy.”

“Her fiancé is probably just as crazy,” Kate realized, “if he’s managed to capture Melissa’s attention.” The entire group shuddered at the thought of two Melissas. That was clearly the stuff of nightmares.

“You’re not there?” Aria asked Caleb in curiosity. “You’re practically part of the family.” She smiled in amusement.

Caleb shook his head. “No, I had errands to run for my mother.” He shook his pharmacy bag. “Thank God,” he muttered lowly. Even Caleb disliked Melissa and he could put up with most anybody.

A low ring grabbed their attention as they noticed a male figure leave the pharmacy. None of them had realized there had been someone else in the store with them. “Who was that?” Sarah asked in curiosity, realizing that everyone was staring at the figure.

“I don’t know. Another new guy?” Emily offered.

“Hot new guy,” Hanna smirked as she eyed the figure up and down. “Who is he talking to?” she wondered. Suddenly, the boy they were all staring at shifted, allowing them to see the girl he had stopped to chat with.

“Oh my god!” Emily, Hanna and Aria muttered all together.

Caleb raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Hey, isn’t that Jenna Marshall? I didn’t know she was back.”

The three witches exchanged terrified looks. It had been two years and they still had never spoken of The Jenna Thing. Ali had said that she’d taken care of it, but here Jenna was, back in town. Alison was going to be pissed.


	3. Chapter 3

“So, where is your girlfriend again?” Sarah asked as she enjoyed the feeling of the wind in her hair. The group had wanted to catch a movie but Sarah had already seen it. Caleb, being polite, had invited the girl to run a couple of errands with him so that she wouldn’t be wandering around town alone.

“She’s meeting her sister’s fiancé,” Caleb explained as he shifted gears.

Sarah nodded in understanding. “Right, the crazy sister. Why didn’t you go with her?” she asked in probing curiosity. She couldn’t get Kate’s voice telling her that Caleb had a thing for her out of her head.

“I had errands and…” Caleb hesitated to continue, but plowed on. “Her family is kinda intense.” Seeing his companion’s questioning look, he reluctantly elaborated. “Her mom and my mom have been giving me these looks especially now that our 18th birthdays are coming up.”

Sarah just looked even more confused. “What kind of looks?”

Caleb gave a weak chuckle. “The ‘why-the-hell-haven’t-you-asked-her-to-marry-you-yet’ kind of looks.”

The blonde choked slightly on air. “Oh, wow,” she muttered, her eyes wide. Maybe she and Kate were way off on this. If he was serious enough about Spencer to ask her to marry him… “Are you planning on asking her?”

“I… honestly don’t know,” he admitted with a small shrug. “Spencer and I have been together for years, but we’re… more like siblings than anything else.” This was the first time he’d confessed this secret to someone outside of the Covenant. To be honest, it felt kind of great. Enjoying the feeling, Caleb continued. “We only really got together because our families kept pushing us toward each other and we just wanted them off our backs. We figured we’d date a few months and the whole thing would blow over.”

Sarah nodded in understanding. “But it didn’t?”

Caleb chuckled for real this time as he gave her a sideways look. “I mentioned the marriage looks, right?”

~

Spencer slowed to a stop outside her apartment as she bent over to catch her breath. After a good minute, she walked inside the small complex and headed toward the third floor. Her iPod was blaring loudly from her armband. She reached behind it and withdrew her key, opening the door. She quickly headed toward the fridge, gulping down a bottle of water harshly before kicking off her shoes and making her way to the shower.

Relaxing under the hot spray, she began to mentally prepare herself for Hurricane Melissa. Even as Spencer dressed, she was thinking up ways to just keep quiet, keep her head down and simply survive the family gathering.

In no time at all, she was in front of her parent’s large mansion. She took a deep breath and let herself in. She heard voices in the living room and walked straight there. “Hey,” she greeted with a smile causing everyone to look up at her.

“Spencer!” Veronica smiled, standing up to give her youngest a hug.

“Mom.” Spencer smiled back before giving her dad a hug as well. “Dad.”

Peter gave her a nod. “Spence.”

Unable to avoid it any longer, Spencer turned to face Melissa and her new fiancé. “Melissa. It’s good to see you.”

Melissa stood up and gave Spencer a delicate hug. “You too.” She smiled, but there was a hint on condescension in her eyes. “This is Wren. Wren, my baby sister Spencer,” she introduced.

“Hi.” Spencer smiled tightly, holding out her hand, wary of yet another of Melissa’s monotonous boyfriends.

“Hello,” he replied in a crisp British accent as he shook her hand.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s move this to the patio, shall we?” Veronica asked, already making her way outside. As they all sat down and got comfortable, Veronica turned to face her youngest daughter. “So, Spencer. I’m surprised to see you alone. Where’s Caleb?”

Melissa’s knuckles turned an almost unnoticeable white at the mention of her sister’s relationship with Caleb Danvers. Spencer had the perfect relationship with the perfect boy for the last two years while Melissa only found her fairytale prince recently.

“He’s up at the Colony House,” Spencer said significantly, not wanting to spill too much in front of Wren.

“Ah.” Peter and Veronica both shifted uncomfortably at the reminder of William Danvers, that generation’s reminder of all that could go wrong with magic.

“So, Spencer,” Melissa spoke up, changing the subject. “I was wondering when you’d have your things out by.”

Spencer looked at the older girl oddly. “What?”

“Actually, Melissa, we hadn’t had a chance to talk about that with Spencer yet,” Veronica interrupted.

Feeling wary, Spencer turned to look at all of her family members before asking suspiciously, “Talk about what?”

“Spencer’s a smart girl, I’m sure she realizes what’s going on.” Melissa shrugged dismissively. “I was wondering when you’d have your things moved out of the apartment. With classes starting up next week, Wren and I need to be moved in soon.”

Spencer looked at her sister incomprehensively before turning to look at her parents. “You’re kicking me out of my apartment?” she asked hoarsely.

“Oh, don’t act so surprised.” Melissa rolled her eyes. “Wren and I are getting married. It’s only natural that we have our own space.”

“So get your own apartment,” Spencer replied quickly.

Her older sister stared at her in confusion. “Why? We have the State St. place.”

“My apartment!” Spencer replied angrily.

“Spencer,” Veronica said trying to calm her youngest down. “Your sister is right. She and Wren do need their own space and you can easily come and live with us or in the dorms with your friends. Aria doesn’t have a roommate right?”

Spencer looked at her mother oddly before scoffing, unsurprised that her mother knew next to nothing of Spencer’s life or the people in it. “Aria moved back with her family three years ago.”

“Oh,” Veronica stated, surprised.

After a moment, Spencer sighed and calmed down. She knew that no matter how much of a fuss she put up, Melissa was still going to get the State St. apartment. “It’s okay,” she agreed grudgingly before a small smirk played on her lips. “I can just move in with Pogue.”

“What?” Peter asked, surprised. “No! You can’t move in with that… that hooligan.”

“Hooligan, dad?” Spencer questioned with a grin.

“He has long hair and drives a motorcycle. What else do you suggest I call him?” Peter growled out furiously as he harshly bit into his bread roll.

“We just call him Pogue.” Spencer laughed, though it was still a little forced. “And he’s the only person left. It’s too late to get me into the dorms and he’s the only one with an apartment.”

“What about Caleb?” Veronica asked, ignoring her husband’s spluttering.

“He lives at home,” Spencer responded, questioning once more how little her parents knew of her life.

“Yes, but you two could get an apartment together. Neither of you lack money.” Veronica turned to her spluttering husband. “Oh, stop it. Those two have been dating for two years. They’re almost eighteen. Evie and I have just been waiting for Caleb to pop the question.”

Melissa scowled. This lunch was supposed to be about her and her upcoming nuptials, not Spencer’s. How did everything always turn back to her little sister? Even when Melissa won, Spencer still managed to come out on top.

Spencer, meanwhile, was completely flabbergasted. Caleb proposing? “Uhm, he’s still taking care of Aunt Evie. I don’t think he’d be okay moving away from her right now. Maybe I can just get a new apartment?” she offered hesitantly.

“Yes!” Peter agreed readily. “We’ll get you a new apartment. A better one! One far away from the Danvers’ mansion.” Veronica rolled her eyes at her husband, but gave in. Melissa, on the other hand, couldn’t believe that she was the one getting married and yet her sister was the one getting a new apartment. Wren looked confused, but amused by the whole thing.

~

Wren walked onto the front porch from the sprawling mansion to find Spencer lounging alone on the front porch, flipping through a book. “I’m sorry,” he offered.

She looked up in surprise. “For?”

“Taking your apartment,” he clarified. “I had no idea you didn’t know or I would have said something.”

Spencer blinked in shock as a slow smile made its way across her face. “It wouldn’t have made a difference, but thank you.”

He sat down on the bench next to her. “So, can I ask?” He waited for her attention to focus back on him. “Your family dynamics are…”

“Crazy?” she offered with a smile before slipping a bookmark in between the pages and giving Wren her full attention. “It’s kind of complicated. Are you sure you want to know?”

“Well, considering I’m going to be part of this family soon, don’t you think I deserve to?” he asked with a playful grin.

She paused in thought as she mentally debated how much to tell him. “My family has this… inheritance,” Spencer started awkwardly. “And growing up, it was expected that Melissa would be the one to receive it. Looking back on it, that sort of seemed stupid because she was… too old. But the inheritance is supposed to go to the best girl in our family and that always seemed like her.” Spencer paused once more as she mentally went over her words to make sure they made sense.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Wren spoke up. “And how would they even be able to tell who the ‘best girl’ was? That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s complicated and not really up to us, but that’s basically what it boils down to. Anyway, growing up, it was always Melissa. My parents doted on her and always talked about how things would change when Melissa… inherited. And I just sort of… came in second.” She shrugged as though it wasn’t really a big deal.

Wren looked at her for a moment before reaching a hand out, gently laying it on her own. “Spencer, your parents love you.”

“No, I know. I know that they love me.” She looked up and gave him a slightly wobbly smile, but her eyes were glossier than normal, signaling tears ready to fall. “They just love Melissa more. When her thirteenth birthday came and nothing happened… it was like someone died. And then when my thirteenth birthday came and I… inherited. God. It was like I had somehow stolen it from her. They had always doted on her before, but after? Melissa could do no wrong and I was just the evil little sister who took what was rightfully hers.”

Wren wished there was something he could say to that, but he really had no clue what. “Who decides who gets the inheritance?” he finally asked in curiosity, hoping to distract her a bit. “What qualities are necessary?”

“It’s complicated. As for qualities… that’s complicated too. I think the reason I inherited it is because of my friends. We all come from really old, wealthy families and we all grew up together. We’re all the same age and we are all receiving the same inheritance. The reason Melissa didn’t receive it is because she’s too old. That’s what I think anyway,” Spencer admitted although she didn’t add that had Melissa been the one to inherit, then the others would have been born sooner to match her. Since she did not, they were all born later to match the first, in this case Caleb.

“I see,” he stated although from his tone, it was clear he did not see at all causing Spencer to give a light laugh.

“Liar.” She grinned softly, but her eyes were no longer teary and the smile on her face didn’t contain a hint of wobble. Standing up, she gave a bit of a stretch. “I think it’s time I head back,” she spoke softly to herself before turning her attention back to Wren. “You know, you’re not like Melissa’s other boyfriends.”

“Oh?” he asked, standing up as well.

Spencer gave a mysterious smile. “I actually like you.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Caleb!” Veronica smiled widely as she stood up to give the tall boy a hug. “Spencer said you couldn’t make it.”

Caleb gave the woman a smile before turning to give Peter a handshake. “I just finished my errands actually. I’m just here to pick Spencer up.” He turned to the two people who stood up from the couch. “Melissa,” he greeted, “and you must be Wren.” Caleb reached out to shake the shorter man’s hand. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Melissa smiled leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks,” Wren echoed as he placed his hand on the small of Melissa’s back.

Caleb moved toward his girlfriend and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. “So, is it okay if I spring Spencer?” he asked with a charming grin on his face.

“Oh, of course,” Veronica hastily agreed. “We were just having some after-dinner drinks. It’s a pity you can’t join us. Are you two going on a date?” she questioned with a calculating look in her eye.

Seeing that Mrs. Hastings was clearly wondering if tonight would be the night that Caleb proposed, Spencer hastily cut in. “Not really. We’re just meeting up with the others at Nicky’s.”

“A bar?” Melissa spoke with disapproval. “Really Spencer?”

“Oh, let your sister have her fun,” Peter waved off. “She’ll be with the others and she knows better than to drink. Better Nicky’s than somewhere else.” Here he stared down sternly at Caleb, as if knowing exactly what would be happening between the couple if they were alone.

Caleb coughed slightly but resolutely ignored the not-so-subtle hint. “Alright, well, sorry for just dropping by like this and sorry, Melissa, for missing your engagement dinner,” he apologized before turning to Spencer and muttering a hasty “Let’s go”.

Spencer choked on a small laugh before saying her own goodbyes and quickly escaping. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Spencer chanted once the two were in the car and on the road.

The brunet gave a chuckle before reaching out to rest his hand on her knee as he drove. “That bad, huh?”

“Wren was surprisingly not that bad,” she admitted. “Not sure _how_ Melissa roped him in, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect magic was involved.” They both laughed at that before Spencer suddenly grew solemn. “Melissa is kicking me out of the apartment.”

“What?” Caleb asked in shock, car swerving slightly as he turned to look at her.

Spencer nodded, her lips pursed tightly. “Yeah, apparently she and Wren need their own place to live. Like they can’t afford to get their own apartment?” she scoffed.

“So, where are you going to stay?” Caleb asked obviously.

Here she let out a laugh. “Oh, you’ll love this. Since it’s too late to get into the dorms, I said I’d move in with Pogue and dad about had a heart attack! Then mom suggested we move in together,” here the couple exchanged a knowing look, “and dad freaked out even more. Finally, I suggested that I get a new apartment. So now dad’s buying me a new place and Melissa’s getting the State St. apartment she _loved so much_ ,” Spencer mocked.

The brunet gave a low chuckle in amusement. “Your family is crazy.”

Spencer gave a bittersweet smile. “All of our families are.”

The two drove in silence toward Nicky’s for several moments before Spencer spotted something. “Isn’t that Hanna’s car?” she asked as she pointed to a car pulled over by the side of the road.

Caleb paused the car and Hanna looked up from where she was inspecting something underneath the hood, a guy stood beside her apparently trying to help. With a glare, Hanna made an obvious shoo motion while the guy was still looking at her car.

With an amused smile, Caleb drove on. “Leave it to Hanna to pick up guys while having car trouble,” Spencer said with a chuckle.

~

“You have got to be kidding me!” Hanna groaned as she slammed her hands on the wheel forcefully. “Why me?” She exited the car, teetering on her heels because of the pebbles on the side of the road before going to the front of the vehicle and opening up the hood. She scanned inside, but ultimately rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like she knew what she was looking for. Unless the problem had a note attached explaining what was wrong and how to fix it… in small words… then Hanna knew nothing about cars.

“Need help?” a male voice asked near her.

Hanna whirled around, hand pressed to her heart in shock. “You scared me!”

The boy grinned and tucked a long piece of shoulder length dark hair behind his ear. “Sorry,” he said, but looked decidedly unapologetic. “Do you need help?” he asked again.

“Uhm, yeah,” Hanna replied, moving to the side so the boy could see inside her car. She studied the boy and realized with surprise that he was the one from earlier. He was inside the store while she was with the others and was the one seen talking to Jenna Marshall. “You’re new here, right? I don’t recognize you.”

“You know everyone in town?” the boy asked, looking up in amusement before reaching into her car to mess with some of the parts.

The blonde girl shrugged. “The ones my age,” she replied. _The cute ones my age_ , she added mentally.

“Well, you’re right. I just moved here a couple weeks ago.” He smiled charmingly. “I’m Caleb Rivers.” He held out his hand, but it was covered in car oil. “Oh, sorry,” he quickly retracted his hand.

“I’m Hanna,” she replied with a grin, eyes lit up in interest. “So, Ipswich or Spencer?”

“Sorry?” he asked in confusion, looking up from what he was doing.

“Wow, you _are_ new,” she laughed. “Ipswich High or Spencer Academy,” she clarified.

“Ah.” Caleb nodded in understating. “Ipswich High. And judging from you BMW, I’d say you go to Spencer.”

“Now you’re the one who is right,” she replied making sure to smile cutely. Over his shoulder she spotted a familiar grey mustang slowing down and quickly waved her friends away. She wanted to know more about the cute bad boy who just moved into town. And it didn’t hurt that she wanted to know more about how he knew Jenna. “So, what were you doing out here in the middle of the night? This road is deserted. Were you heading to Nicky’s?” she asked probingly.

“Nicky’s?”

Hanna let out a genuine laugh. “Yeah, Nicky’s. It’s a bar down the road. Everybody hangs out there. You should check it out.” Just as she finished speaking, Caleb appeared to finish. “Did you fix it?” she asked in complete surprise.

Caleb grinned charmingly. “I don’t know. Why don’t you try her and find out.” Doing as told, Hanna disappeared into her car to turn the engine on. When it came to life, she squealed excitedly.

“Hop in!” she lowered her passenger side window to yell.

“Why?” he asked in confusion.

Hanna shook her head in amused exasperation. “I told you. Nicky’s!”

~

Aria let out a sigh as she sat in the corner staring in boredom as her boyfriend and his best friend worked the pool table. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but she had come in laughing with him and now she was being completely ignored. Standing up, she moved to the pool table. “I’m grabbing food. You boys want?”

“Just a couple of beers,” Reid answered back distractedly as he leaned down to take a shot.

Tyler scowled lightly. “Dude, I can order for myself. Control freak,” he muttered under his breath before turning to Aria. “I want… just a beer,” he finished sheepishly. Aria let out a laugh before turning on her heel to head to the bar.

“Hey, Nicky,” she greeted warmly. Everybody here knew Nicky. He was a decent guy and didn’t mind selling the occasional beer to a minor. The only thing he asked was that if you were going to do something stupid, do it elsewhere. “Reid and Tyler would like a couple of beers. They’re at the pool tables,” she ordered, waiting for him to hand said drinks over to a waitress to drop off. “And can I get a burger and a beer too?” She sat down at the bar, not feeling like sitting at a table by herself. The others hadn’t arrived yet, so she was pretty much on her own. She glanced at the others sitting at the bar and caught her eye on the man sitting next to her. “Good book,” she complimented his choice, her lips twitching at the sight of a guy choosing to read in the middle of a crowded bar. 

“Ah.” The man put his book down looking sheepish. “Thanks.”

“I’m Aria,” she introduced.

“Ezra,” he replied back shaking her hand. “You like Catcher in the Rye?” he asked gesturing down at his book.

Aria nodded. “Yeah, I do. More than I expected to actually.” Nicky set her food and drink down and she slipped him a twenty for her food and the three beers ordered. “Keep the change,” she said grinning up at the bartender.

Once Nicky left, Ezra started up the conversation once more. “Are you a student here?” he asked.

“Yep,” Aria agreed easily before munching on a fry.

Ezra smiled, leaning in slightly when the noise level rose. “What’s your major?”

Aria hesitated for a quick second as she realized that Ezra thought she was a student at the local college Hollis. Going along with the charade, but without outright lying, she responded. “I think I’d like to major in English.”

“I studied that.” Ezra grinned. This time his movement closer had nothing to do with hearing her better.

A slow smile crept along the petite brunette’s face. “Really?” Aria turned to face him fully, completely ignoring her meal in favor of the man clearly hitting on her.

~

“I’m telling you, it was Jenna,” Emily whispered harshly as she and Ali danced out on the dance floor. “How many other blind girls live in Ipswich?”

Alison scowled but continued to swing her hips in time to the music. “That bitch has a lot of nerve.”

Emily shook her head in confusion. “What did you do that night?” she asked.

The blonde gave an amused wink, saying only, “Secrets, sweetheart,” before moseying over to dance with a hot guy that had been checking her out.

Emily gave a sigh. Ali still never talked about what she had done to get the five girls off the hook for The Jenna Thing. Whatever it was, it got Toby to confess to a crime he didn’t commit and Jenna to keep her mouth shut about how she was really blinded that night.

She made her way to the back where a couple of tables were pushed together and several people sat playing cards. “Emily!” one of the players greeted. “You playing?”

“If that’s alright,” she smiled. She wasn’t much for drinking or dancing so when she wasn’t with her friends she could usually be found playing a friendly game of cards in the back.

After the hand was finished, Emily was dealt in. She ended up sitting next to an extremely attractive blonde girl about her age. Emily reached out and threw a couple of bills into the pot. “You go to Spencer?” the blonde girl asked. When Emily looked at her in surprise, the blonde gestured to Emily’s wrist. Looking down, the brunette gave a laugh as she played with her Sharks bracelet. “I’m Samara.”

“Emily,” she introduced. “Do you go to Spencer?” Emily didn’t think so. The blonde didn’t look familiar and Emily would have noticed a girl as attractive as Samara.

“I start there, yes,” the girl replied.

“Transfer?” Emily asked surprised. There seemed to be a lot of transfer students this year.

“Yes.” The blonde nodded. “My mom’s in the military so we move around a lot.”

“You’re kidding!” Emily smiled excitedly. “My dad’s in the military!” The two girls shared a wide smile and began excitedly chatting and getting to know each other. Samara was glad to have a friend at her new school and who knew? Maybe something more.

~

Aria fixed her lipstick as she made her way over to the tables in the back. The others all gave her raised eyebrows since it was obvious exactly what she had been getting up to in the bathroom, but she studiously ignored them. Who she made out with was none of their business.

She raised an eyebrow of her own at Caleb dancing with Sarah out on the floor but Spencer didn’t look in the least bit phased so she said nothing as she sat down. “Hey,” Aria greeted everyone.

“Hey.” Emily smiled widely. “Aria this is my new friend Samara. Samara this is Aria.” Samara had clearly already been introduced around their circle of friends so Aria just gave a wave.

“And this is Caleb Rivers.” Hanna introduced her friend as well. “We’ve just been calling him Rivers so we don’t get confused.” Aria grinned and gave him a wave too.

“Ali,” Aria called to the girl in the corner, but the blonde didn’t stop sucking face with the guy she had been dancing with earlier. The group rolled their eyes, well used to her antics. Spencer opened her mouth as if she were going to say something when they heard the sound of glass breaking. Whirling around in her seat, Aria let out a groan at the sight of Reid and Aaron going at it. “It’s Reid and Tyler,” she called over her shoulder standing up. Before they could make it forward, Pogue was in front of them.

“We’ll take care of it,” he assured them before following Caleb out back to help their brothers.

They all sat back down except for Alison. “Why are we listening to them?” she asked.

“Because Caleb told us to stay,” Spencer responded as Sarah and Chase rejoined their table.

“And you’re going to just obey him like a good dog?” Ali asked cruelly. When Spencer did nothing but roll her eyes at Ali’s antics, the blonde gave a huff and folded her arms. “Alright, fine. If we’re not allowed in on the action then I guess I’ll just have to get a little action myself.” She reached down and gripped the shirt of the boy she had been making out with and dragged him to the door.

“Alison DiLaurentis, ladies and gentlemen,” Hanna muttered with an amused smile on her face as she sipped on her coke.


	5. Chapter 5

“He made the shot, dickhead,” Tyler spat as he left Nicky’s and entered the back alleyway, Reid right behind him. “You bet him he couldn’t and he did.”

Noel smirked and got into the brunette’s face. “We ain’t paying you shit so if you don’t like it, why don’t you do something?”

“What’s the problem?” Caleb asked, interrupting Noel as he and Pogue stepped out into the back alley.

“None of your damn business!” Aaron replied back but Reid had no such interest in keeping Caleb out of the fight.

“He bet me I couldn’t make a combo shot and I did,” the blond explained, giving a telling smirk at Caleb over his shoulder.

The brunet boy gave a sigh realizing that Reid had Used his magic to cheat. “Why don’t we just forget about it, okay?”

“Hey!” a gruff voice came from behind them as Nicky appeared wielding a bat. “Take it somewhere else, ladies,” he demanded. When none of the boys moved, he smacked the bat against his hand angrily. “Now!”

“Whatever you say, Nicky,” Aaron reluctantly agreed. Nicky’s was the only decent place to hang out around Ipswich. Fighting Caleb and Reid wasn’t worth getting permanently kicked out.

As soon as Aaron and Noel left, Caleb turned on Reid. “What were you thinking?” he asked.

“We were just playing ‘em,” Reid replied casually, only a little bit of regret in his voice. He wasn’t sorry for cheating and Using, but he was sorry that he caused a fight over it that led to his brothers being dragged into his mess.

“Yeah, come on, Caleb. They were suckers for it,” Tyler said backing up his best friend.

“Why don’t you quit being such a pussy,” Reid grunted out angrily as he made to go around Caleb.

Caleb put an arm out to stop the blond. “I’m not finished with you yet.” Reid grabbed his arm, his eyes going black as he began to get angry. “What is the matter with you?” Caleb asked, getting angry as well. “Is this about Aria?”

“Aria?” Reid asked incredulously.

“Yeah. We all saw her with that guy at the bar. Look, you two have your own arrangement. We don’t pretend to understand why you guys continue to hook up with other people-”

 “At least we’re up front about it!” Reid exploded angrily.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Caleb growled back.

“I’m talking about Spencer!” the blond spat. “She isn’t some girl that you can just hurt or throw away! If you like Sarah, then say something to Spencer about it. If not, then forget her because Spencer is one of us and brother or not, you hurt her and we’ll all kick your ass.” As if to prove his words, Reid began to Use, causing Caleb’s veins to restrict painfully in his arm.

“Reid,” Caleb warned. Seeing that the blond wasn’t stopping, Caleb began to do some magic of his own. He pushed Reid away, throwing him up against the side of a nearby warehouse. “What will it take for you to get it? It’s addictive, you moron. You’ve seen what it can do if you abuse it. You want that, that’s your business, but if you use in the open like you did tonight, you risk exposing us all and that I won’t let happen.” Pissed off, Reid picked up a barrel and began causing it to hover in mid air. “My power is greater than yours,” Caleb reminded.

“Not until you Ascend,” Reid refuted.

“Alright, go for it, tough guy,” Caleb shrugged, confident in his abilities. Reid threw the barrel, but Caleb easily knocked it aside and threw Reid back into a large stack of empty beer bottles.

Pogue and Tyler exchanged weary looks. Neither of them had seen Caleb this angry. Reid was a hot head, everyone knew that. Caleb normally let it go. He never rose to the bait like this. As Caleb started forward, Pogue hurried to get into his path, stopping him from continuing the fight. “Stop it! This is crazy!”

“It’s for his own good!” Caleb yelled back, watching as Tyler helped Reid up. “Keep Using like you did tonight, like you did last night. When you Ascend you’ll be as good as dead!”

“So I fixed her car, big deal,” Reid spat shoving away Tyler’s help.

Caleb glared at the blond. “Don’t play me Reid. I’m talking later and you know it.”

“The hell I do!” Reid yelled before getting up in Caleb’s face. “I didn’t Use later.” Reid shoved his way through the two boys and left.

Tyler hesitated before speaking up. “It’s not right Using on each other, Caleb.”

“Aw, tell it to Reid,” Caleb groaned, bringing a hand up to his face. As soon as Tyler left, Caleb spoke up. “Reid’s lying. Had to have been him.” But there was something in his tone that said he wasn’t entirely sure. The look in Reid’s eyes when he said he didn’t Use later… it had seemed real.

“How do you know?” Pogue asked, trying to understand how Caleb was so certain.

“’Cause it wasn’t you, Tyler doesn’t have the balls to lie to me and Spencer already told me none of the girls were Using,” Caleb listed.

“Hey,” Spencer spoke up from behind them, leaning against Nicky’s back door.

“Hey,” Caleb replied back with a sigh, turning to look at her. He blinked in surprise when he saw Sarah right behind the girl. Unbidden, Reid’s earlier words came back to him. He needed to do something about Sarah and Spencer.

Sarah looked at him worriedly. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Caleb nodded easily.

Spencer, already knowing that Caleb would be perfectly fine, cocked her head. “Let’s go.”

Caleb hesitated for a moment before looking at her seriously. They would need to have a serious talk tonight. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

~

Caleb parked his Mustang and walked Spencer up to her apartment. She could tell that something had been on his mind then entire drive and she wondered how long it would take for him to finally talk about it. She had a suspicion about what it was he wanted to say, but she waited patiently for Caleb to make the first move.

“So…” Caleb shifted uncomfortably once they made it to her front door, unsure of how to bring it up. “About what happened at the bar…” Seeing Spencer’s confused look, he clarified. “About me dancing with Sarah at the bar…” Spencer gave him a knowing look and turned to give him her full attention. Finally, Caleb just spat it out. “This isn’t really working, is it?”

“It never really did,” she replied easily, not at all phased by the fact that she and her boyfriend of two years were breaking up.

“Right. So.” Caleb shoved his hands into his jeans. He had no idea what to do. “I mean, are we…

“Broken up?” Spencer asked in amusement. It was rare to see Caleb off his game and she was enjoying the show. “I think so.”

“Right. Good.” Caleb nodded before looking panicked. “I mean, not good.”

“Caleb,” the brunette girl responded patiently. “This was mutual. There’s no need to get awkward. We’re best friends and part of the same Covenant, so please don’t make this awkward.”

“Good point,” the boy agreed. “And about Sarah…”

“I don’t mind if you date her,” Spencer finally said, tired of waiting for Caleb to just ask. “She seems nice.”

“Really?” he asked, half in excitement, half in skepticism.

Spencer rolled her eyes and opened her front door. “Get in here. We’re gonna have a movie night and you’re gonna relax.”

~

Sarah twitched in her sleep, slowly waking up as she felt something on her face. She sat up and slowly combed through her hair, making a face when a spider fell out. She patted it off the bed, but then realized that her legs felt weird. Throwing off her blankets, she gave a loud scream as spiders crawled all across her bed, up and down her legs. She threw herself out of bed, shaking her legs and accidentally knocking over her lamp. Looking down she spotted even more spiders and screamed even louder as she shook her legs even more, trying to get the spiders off her and trying to kill the ones already on the floor. She tried to brush off the ones on her pajamas and looked frantically over at Kate only to spy a spider go into Kate’s nose and for a small nest to burst out of the girl’s forehead.

With a great gasp, Sarah woke from her nightmare, pulse racing. Across town, three more people woke up similarly.

Caleb looked around before reaching out for his cell phone on the coffee table. His skin felt clammy, having woken up in a cold sweat. Putting his phone to his ear, he gingerly sat up, his muscles tense like he was expecting to have to run or fight. “Yeah.”

“I just saw the same darkling you saw last night,” Pogue said getting straight to the point. “That dead kid at the Dells. What the hell is it?”

“I don’t know. It’s starting to freak me out,” Caleb muttered, glancing up when Spencer walked out of her bedroom, staring at him with freaked out eyes. She didn’t need to say anything for Caleb to realize that she had felt the power too. “I’m telling you, someone’s using powers and I mean big time. I intend to find out who.” After a quick good night, Caleb hung up the phone and collapsed back on the couch with a groan.

Spencer moved to sit next to him and neither said a word for several minutes. “Who would be Using?” she finally asked. “Why?”

Caleb shook his head. “I don’t know.” Again there was silence before he finally sat back up again. “I should head home,” he said checking the time on his phone. He had fallen asleep towards the end of the second movie and Spencer had apparently turned off the tv and gone to bed without waking him.

“It’s three in the morning,” Spencer retorted. “School starts in four hours. Don’t be stupid.” She got up and gently pushed him back on the couch. “Go back to sleep, Caleb. The problem will still be there when you wake up.”

~

Aria slunk into the classroom at the last minute while the professor’s back was turned. She slipped into her seat next to Reid and hurriedly pulled out her notebook. She was vaguely aware of the professor calling roll but she didn’t pay attention until her name was called.

“Aria Montgomery.”

“Present,” she replied, finally looking up from her bag only to stare wide eyed at the person up front. Ezra was equally surprised to find the girl he had made out with at a bar in his classroom. There was an awkward moment of silence as the two stared at each other before Reid not-so-gently nudged her, drawing her attention away from the professor who then finished calling roll.

“My name is Ezra Fitz and I’m your new English professor. We’re going to study four American contemporary writers of fiction.” He turned to write their names on the board. “First is Cormac McCarthy, then Tim O’Brian, Kent Haruf and last but not least, Stephen King.”

“Yeah,” Reid cheered. “Dreamcatcher was the shit,” he punned.

Aria let out a snort of laughter but obligatorily whacked him across the shoulder.

“Thank you, Mr… Garwin?” Ezra asked, unsure if that was Reid’s last name. “But, no. My choice is The Shining.”

After class ended, Aria hesitantly picked up her books and slowly made her way down the stairs. As she passed by Ezra on the way to the door, they caught eyes. There was a moment that passed between them, but what it mean, Aria didn’t know. She quickly left the classroom, Reid hot on her tail.

“What was that?” he asked as they made their way down the hall toward the cafeteria for lunch.

“What was what?” she asked, trying to play it off as nothing.

Reid wasn’t having it. “Aria…”

She nibbled on her lip, but quickly tugged the blond into an empty classroom. “That guy I was with last night?” Reid nodded, understanding who she was talking about. “That was him.”

“You hooked up with our professor?” Reid asked, more impressed than anything.

Scowling, Aria whacked him hard. “Shut up.”

Seeing that she was upset, he stopped laughing and looked at her seriously. “Okay, well you like him, right? You broke off our little arrangement last night because you said that you were really into him.”

Aria nodded. “But that was before I knew he was our professor,” she scowled up at him.

He gave a shrug. “I don’t care if you date the teach. I doubt the others would either. Ali would hold it over you forever, but no one would care. If you want to, go for it. It would just have to be on the down low.” Aria nibbled on her lip, clearly still worrying about it. Reid gave a sigh and slung his arm over her shoulder, leading her out of the classroom and back toward the cafeteria. “Look, either way you have to talk to this guy so don’t worry about it until then, okay?”

~

“Emily!” Samara called as she raced to catch up with the girl. Emily slowed to a stop as she waited for the blonde. “Hey.” She grinned at the brunette as she caught up.

“Hey,” Emily returned, happy to see her friend. “How was your first day?”

“Good,” Samara replied as though honestly surprised at her own answer. “It’s not as strict as most of the other private schools I’ve been to.”

The brunette smiled knowingly. “Spencer’s strict about academics and their dress code. That’s pretty much it. You heading to lunch?” she asked changing the subject once she noticed Samara holding a paper bag.

“Yeah. Do you wanna sit together?” the blonde asked with only the slightest hint of shyness.

Emily bit her lip. “I would but…”

Samara nodded her head with a hint of self-deprecation. “I’m sure you’d rather sit with your friends.”

“No! That’s not it at all,” Emily replied strongly. “It’s just that I volunteered to spend my lunch hour sitting in the Gay-Straight Alliance classroom. We try and have someone there as much as possible in the first week,” she explained hesitantly.

“You’re gay?” Samara asked.

“Yes. I’m gay,” Emily spoke with only light hesitance. It was clear that while she was out, she still wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable admitting her sexual orientation yet.

“I am as well,” Samara returned with ease, clearly long since comfortable admitting such things to others. “So maybe I better check this club out,” she smiled at Emily.

Emily returned the grin. “Really? Yeah, I’ll show you the classroom.” The two girls continued down the hall when they passed a familiar face.

“Hey, Em,” Ali smiled. She took a good look at the blonde accompanying her friend. She vaguely remembered being introduced to Samara last night but had been much more interested in the boy she met than one of Emily’s new friends. In the light of day, however, Alison was more curious. “Got a new girlfriend already? I’m impressed, babe. Maya’s barely out the door.” She laughed as she continued on her way to the cafeteria. Alison sure did love stirring up trouble.

Emily stared at Alison’s back, more than a little annoyed with her best friend. She loved Alison, she really did. But sometimes she wondered why. “Sorry about her,” she apologized to Samara before continuing on their way.

“It’s okay. I think everyone knows at least one pot-stirrer,” she replied. After a second, Samara brought up what Alison had said. “You have a girlfriend?”

Emily hesitated to answer. “I did. Her name was Maya. She got caught with some drugs and her parents sent her to some boot camp over the summer. We haven’t talked so I guess she’s really my ex-girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Samara smiled kindly, but as the two locked eyes and sparks flared, they both knew that Samara was not sorry at all to hear that Emily was single.


	6. Chapter 6

Aria clutched Reid’s hand tightly for comfort as they slowly made their way down the hall after class. They paused in front of the English room. Aria stood hesitantly, eyeing the doorway. After a few tense seconds, Reid finally spoke up. “Are you going to talk to him or not?”

The brunette nibbled on her lip, but nodded. She let go of Reid’s hand and pushed open the door. She walked into the classroom and found Ezra sitting at his desk in the front of the large classroom. He distractedly looked up from some papers only to do a double-take once he realized who it was.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “You told me you went to Hollis,” he said, diving straight into the issue.

“No.” Aria gave a small smirk. “I said I was thinking about majoring in English,” she corrected.

Ezra nodded. It was true, though it was a loophole. “Look, I think you’re amazing, Aria. When I first met you I thought ‘who is this girl?’” He grinned at her lightly.

A smile made its way across Aria’s face. She hadn’t known what to think when she walked in here to have this conversation, but his words… It sounded like he was still interested. She hoped he was still interested. “I’m still that girl. Nothing’s changed.” She reached out to lightly grasp his hand on top of the desk.

He stared down at their hands before speaking again. “Yes. Yes it has. I’m your teacher.”

Aria swallowed, knowing that he was right. “I know it’s not just me. You feel like this is right for us too.” She looked up into his eyes probingly.

“But it’s not right.” Ezra spoke with a hint of condescension and withdrew his hand. “We just can’t.” He stood up and swiftly left the room leaving a shocked and hurt girl behind.

After a few minutes she heard the door open again. She whirled her head hoping that Ezra had come back, but found Reid instead. He took in her face with tears in her eyes threatening to fall. “I take it things didn’t go well,” he said sympathetically but with a hint of humor. Aria gave a choked laugh in response before flinging herself into his arms. Reid tightly wrapped her in his embrace. “Shh,” he cooed softly. “You’ll be okay.”

After a few minutes, she finally calmed down. Her breathing steadied and despite the tears in her eyes, she didn’t shed a single one. She refused to be anything less that strong. “Thanks,” she finally said, withdrawing from his embrace. “I swear, what would I do without you?”

Reid gave a half-hearted shrug, slinging an arm around her shoulder and leading her from the classroom. “Let’s never find out,” he suggested.

~

“Okay, I’m confused,” Hanna said as she stared off into the distance. “When did _that_ happen?”

“I have no idea,” Pogue replied, equally confused. Although, he was just happy that Chase no longer appeared to be after his girl.

Speaking of his girl… “Hey, guys!” Kate smiled as she made her way over. “What’s going on?” she asked when she noticed that neither her boyfriend nor her best friend were paying an ounce of attention to her. Hanna jerked her head in the direction that she was looking and Kate followed her eyes. “Woah. When did that happen?” Kate asked in confusion.

Pogue finally drew his gaze away to look at his girlfriend. “We don’t know.” He smiled down at her and drew her into a hug as he laid a quick kiss on her lips.

“It had to have been recent,” Hanna spoke up, also turning her gaze away from the new couple. “Ali was hooking up last night so it must have been some time today.” Across the courtyard, Alison and Chase were seen cuddling and exchanging kisses seemingly very much together.

“What had to have been recent?” Spencer asked as she came down the front steps to meet her friends at what was generally considered their group’s spot.

“Ali and Chase,” Pogue replied nodding his head towards the couple.

Spencer took a good look, but gave nothing more than a simple “huh” in response. Seeing something else nearby she gave a smile. “Hey, look. There’s Caleb and Sarah!” she said excitedly. “Do you think he’s finally asking her out?”

Kate, Hanna and Pogue all gave Spencer a weird and incredulous look. “Wait, what?” Hanna asked in complete surprise. “What happened to you and Caleb?”

Spencer shrugged easily. “We broke up.”

“When?” Kate asked, also in complete shock.

“Last night,” the brunette replied simply.

“Okay, back up and start again for those of us who can’t read your mind,” Pogue commanded, tired of the little back and forth.

Spencer rolled her eyes but nodded agreeably. “Caleb likes Sarah. Caleb and I broke up. Caleb asks Sarah out,” she spoke slowly as though talking to a child.

“Helpful, thanks,” Hanna snarked.

“Hey, guys. What’s going on?” Emily greeted as she dragged Samara down the steps with her to hang with her friends.

“Caleb and Spence broke up and now Caleb’s asking out Sarah!” Hanna replied. “Oh, and Chase and Alison are together.”

Emily looked across the courtyard at the two make shift couples. “I only missed lunch period,” she said in confusion, not understanding how all of this could have happened under her nose. “How did I miss this?”

“Tell me about it,” Pogue groaned. “Yo, Baby Boy!” he called out to Tyler who was slowly making his way over.

“Did we plan to all meet up like this?” Aria asked as she and Reid came down the steps to stand beside Samara and Emily, joining the group conversation.

“Who the fuck cares?” Hanna cried out. “I just want to know how the Spencer-Caleb-Sarah thing happened!”

“What?” Tyler asked in total confusion.

“Argh!” Hanna grunted in anger. “This is what happens when there’s nine of us,” she groaned before randomly waving her hand in Kate and Samara’s direction. “And company.”

“Thanks,” Kate replied sarcastically before turning to explain to the latecomers. “Alison and Chase are dating, Spencer and Caleb broke up and Caleb’s asking Sarah out.”

“We think,” Pogue butt in. “We _think_ Caleb’s asking Sarah out.”

~

“Thanks for walking me,” Sarah smiled, looking up at Caleb.

“No problem,” he grinned back at her. “Besides, we all tend to hang out after class together so I thought you might need help finding us.” Sarah nodded in understanding. There was a soft silence between them as they made their way through the changing autumn trees. “So, the Fall Fest is this Friday,” Caleb started. “It’s the first dance of the year.”

“Yeah, I heard about that,” Sarah nodded.

“Would you… like to go with me?” he asked.

Sarah stopped in her tracks, looking up at him in surprise causing him to pause too. “You have a girlfriend,” she reminded hesitantly.

“No, no, no. Spencer and I broke up,” he hastened to explain. For some reason he had thought everyone knew that already. Probably because of how fast gossip worked around the school.

“Oh,” Sarah replied, a little shocked. “When?” she asked.

Caleb winced knowing how this was going to sound. “Last night.” Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but he interrupted. “I know what you’re going to say, but this wouldn’t be a rebound. The truth is Spencer and I have always been more family than anything else. Our family sort of pushed us together and we went along with it, but we were never really good at being a couple. Our break up was one-hundred percent mutual without any sort of romantic attachments.” Caleb paused seeing that Sarah was processing his words and seemed to be going along with it. After a few seconds of silent walking, Caleb asked again, “So, Fall Fest?” Seeing that she still looked a little reluctant, he put on his best charming grin. “In addition to being the first dance of the year, it also happens to be my birthday.”

A large grin broke out over her face. “Well, if it’s your _birthday_ … I’d love to go with you.”

The pair was still smiling when they made their way to where their large group of friends were waiting, Alison and Chase having joined them. “What’s going on?” Caleb asked in confusion when he noticed all of them talking at once. Realizing that Caleb had finally arrived, they all turned to talk to him simultaneously. “Woah!” he yelled causing everyone to silence. “What’s going on?” he asked worriedly.

“I’m trying to explain to the boys that they don’t need to beat the crap out of you,” Spencer explained.

“What?” Caleb asked in shock.

Reid stepped forward to grab hold of Caleb’s shirt threateningly. “We told you that if you hurt Spencer we’d all kick your ass.” Behind him, Tyler nodded in agreement and though Pogue looked uncomfortable, he too was behind Reid.

“Us too!” Hanna nodded as she, Emily and Aria crowded around Spencer protectively. Alison just looked amused, but she too stood by Spencer.

“I thought you said it was mutual,” Sarah said worriedly.

“It was!” Spencer yelled. “None of you guys are listening to me!” As if to prove her point, Reid swung out and decked Caleb causing both boys to fall as they started to scuffle.

“Seriously, Reid!?” Caleb shouted incredulously as he reached up to wipe away a small trickle of blood while Tyler and Pogue fought to keep the blond from attacking their leader again. “It was mutual!”

“Yeah right!” he shouted back. “You and Spence have been together for years and suddenly there’s a shiny new blonde and you’re dumping Spencer like she’s old trash! That ain’t mutual!” Caleb blinked in surprise. Well, when worded like that…

Spencer got up and got into Reid’s face forcing him to stop flailing, trying to get out of Pogue and Tyler’s grip. “Reid. I love you,” she smiled affectionately. “And I’m really glad that you’re sticking up for me like this, but I swear to you that our break up was mutual. You know that Cay and I have always been more like siblings. It was our parents that pushed us together.”

Reid finally seemed to be listening to what Spencer was saying. “So, you’re okay with him asking Sarah out?” he asked, relaxing enough for his brothers to let him go.

“Who do you think told him to do it? You know Caleb. If left to his own devices he would have waited months before getting up the nerve to do it,” Spencer said, rolling her eyes. Reid shrugged in agreement as both Tyler and Pogue nodded.

“Hey!” Caleb shouted, insulted, but happy that it didn’t look like he’d be getting punched again. “So, we’re all good?” he asked, easily letting the teasing go.

His brothers looked up at him seriously, Reid the most seriously of them all. “Yeah, man,” the blond said reaching out a hand. Caleb clasped the hand and they have each other a quick hug. “Sorry about your face,” Reid said, but the smirk on his face said he wasn’t that sorry. “I was just lookin’ out for Spence.” Now that Caleb did believe.

“I know, man.” Caleb nodded agreeably. “I’d have done the same if I thought you hurt Aria.”

~

Spencer had just moved the last of her things from her car into her old room at the house. Melissa was more and more anxious to move into the apartment so Spencer had begun to pack up her things and moved them into the house while her parents found her a new apartment. Personally, Spencer thought it was a waste. Why not buy a new apartment for Melissa? That would make more sense.

“Tough night?” Wren asked as he passed by Spencer’s room with a load of laundry. He and Melissa had been staying with the older Hastings while they waited for Spencer to finish moving.

“Sort of,” Spencer smiled slightly, sitting up. She actually liked Wren. He was a decent guy and a lot different from Melissa’s normal boyfriends. “I’m still moving my stuff out.” She gestured down to the boxes littering her old room. “I should be done in the next couple of days. Thursday probably since I have field hockey practice starting back up.”

“Take your time,” Wren returned, stepping into her room and taking a look around. He set down the laundry basket and moved closer. “Do you need help unpacking?”

The brunette shook her head. “No thanks. Hopefully I won’t be here for very long and I won’t need to unpack at all.”

“Your parents were serious about the new apartment?” he asked incredulously.

“Welcome to my family,” she said with a laugh. “We don’t make a lot of sense.”

Wren gave her a smile as he moved to look at an old bulletin board she had set up in the corner. “Happy to be here.” He examined the pamphlets and scraps of fabric she had tacked to the cork. “You’re into interior design,” he said over his shoulder, feeling when she came up behind him. He turned to face her in time to catch her wide smile.

“Yeah, actually. I decorated the apartment from scratch,” she said with a reminiscent smile. “It was fun. I’m actually looking forward to doing it again with my new place.”

“You’re good,” Wren complimented, his eyes quickly going back to the board which held some of her sketches and ideas.

“You know interior design?” Spencer asked incredulously. It seemed much more likely that he was simply complimenting her.

“I can appreciate beauty,” Wren returned, turning to look at her. All of a sudden, the two seemed to realize exactly how close they were as their eyes locked in on each other. Before he could help himself, he had reached out to gently cup Spencer’s cheek and moved in for a kiss.

As their lips met and melded, Spencer lifted her arms to gently grip his sides as both of his hands cupped her face. They continued kissing for several minutes before Spencer drew away with a moan. “We can’t do this,” she said breathlessly, shaking her head even as Wren leaned in for another kiss. She lifted her hand and rested it against his chest to stop him. “It’s not right.”

“Because you have a boyfriend.” Wren nodded as he backed off.

Spencer looked at him incredulously. “Because of Melissa.”

~

Caleb shifted in his sleep as his body tried to tell him two separate things. Finally, he flinched as he woke up violently, his body doused in a cold sweat as the Power woke him up. Someone was Using… again.

Suddenly, the second thing his body was trying to tell him caught up with his mind and he looked around the room, feeling someone’s eyes on him as he slept. He sat up in fear when his eyes found the form of the Darkling staring at him from the foot of his bed. The ghost lifted a hand in warning before disappearing from view.


	7. Chapter 7

Caleb raced through the water, swimming hard during their early morning practice. He and Chase were neck and neck coming on their last lap. Suddenly Caleb felt something. It was like the water was hard and tangible. Like it was gripping him and dragging him under. He thrashed in the water but the last thing he saw before he blacked out was Chase’s black eyes.

The next thing he knew he was blinking awake with his brothers standing over him looking worried. “What happened?” he asked with a sore throat. They explained what happened, but Caleb tuned them out as he thought back on what he knew. Chase had black eyes. Only the Covenant had black eyes. Someone had been Using. Someone had sent a Darkling. No one in the Covenant would do something like that. It must have been Chase.

Over and over his thoughts cycled and no matter what way he sliced it, he kept coming to the same conclusion: Chase was one of them.

All day, Caleb kept his eyes firmly on the other boy. He knew what he had seen and now he just needed to find a way to prove it. He watched as the boy talked with their group of friends; with the Covenant. Watched as he confidently strode through the halls, kissed Ali and answered questions in class; all with a smirk on his face. Like he knew Caleb was watching. Like he found Caleb’s suspicions amusing. Like he didn’t care that Caleb was onto him…

~

 “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Reid asked as he and Aria slowly made their way to their English class.

“Not really,” she replied honestly but didn’t stop moving. “But what am I supposed to do? Hide in my house forever?”

Reid shrugged in response. “Or drop his class.” When she sent him a questioning look, he elaborated more clearly. “Claim conflict of interest and drop the course or transfer into a different one.”

Aria blinked in surprise. “Maybe,” she replied, but her eyes showed that she was seriously considering the option. The two entered the classroom to find it halfway filled with students and the professor nowhere in sight. The duo climbed high up to their usual seats with Emily and Tyler who were already sitting there waiting for them. Aria set down her books but continued standing, turning so that she could face Emily. Because the classroom was at a tilt, Aria standing made her face to face with the sitting girl. “Morning,” she greeted with a friendly smile.

“Morning,” Emily returned.

“So…” Aria led on. It was obvious she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how or even if she should. Apparently she couldn’t hold it in any longer because she blurted out her words quickly. “What’s going on with you and Samara?”

Emily shifted awkwardly, especially when Reid and Tyler looked interested in her answer too. “Right now we’re just friends,” she replied honestly. “She just moved here and Maya’s only been gone for a month.”

“But maybe later…?” Tyler asked.

Again, she shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny of her friends. “Maybe,” she said shrugging lightly. Her three friends shared grins, clearly happy for the girl. When Emily first came out at the end of their junior year, she’d had it rough for a while, but as she grew to accept herself the way she was, so did others.

“Good to see that Baby Boy didn’t permanently ruin you for _everyone_ ,” Reid teased.

“For the last time, I did not turn Emily gay,” Tyler scowled, well used to his best friend’s comments. He turned to his best female friend and looked at her imploringly. “Tell them I didn’t turn you gay.”

Emily gave a grin in return. Ever since she and Tyler broke up and Emily came out of the closet, all of their friends had begun teasing Tyler saying that he was so bad in bed that he turned Emily gay. Even now, almost six months later, the teasing hadn’t stopped. “Tyler didn’t turn me gay,” she said in a well worn tone, clearly having repeated the line many times.

“Lie and deny, Baby Boy. We all know the truth,” Reid crowed, not listening to Emily any more than he had for the last several months. Out of the corner of his eye, a flicker of movement caught his attention. Turning slightly, his eyes narrowed when he realized that the professor had just walked into the classroom. Reid’s eyes narrowed further when he realized that he was staring at Aria who had her back to the front of the classroom.

Playing off like he didn’t know that Fitz was watching, Reid wrapped an arm around Aria’s shoulders, tugging her closer to him. She looked up at him questioningly. After she had met Ezra, she had broken off their friends with benefits relationship and technically they never reinstated it after Ezra told her in no uncertain terms that nothing would be happening between them.

Reid raised an eyebrow questioningly, clearly knowing what she was thinking about and asking whether they were back on. Aria blinked slowly as she thought about it before giving a light shrug of agreement. If she wasn’t going to be dating Ezra then there was no point in not continuing her relationship with Reid.

The blond smirked before leaning down to kiss her thoroughly, though he was still conscious of the fact that they were in a classroom surrounded by their peers and didn’t do anything too salacious.

“Mr. Garwin, Ms. Montgomery!” Professor Fitz called out angrily causing the two teenagers to separate. “If you’re done, class is starting,” Ezra said through grit teeth.

The two took their seats, Aria with stiff discomfort and Reid with blatant casualness, but underneath the table, Reid gripped Aria’s hand. She needed all the strength she could get, having to sit in this classroom across from Fitz every day.

~

“So, are you going to do something about the Jenna Thing?” Hanna asked hesitantly as she spun around on her stool in the science lab.

“Like what?” Alison asked right back with a knowing smirk on her lips. She was fluffing her hair while looking in a compact mirror and for all the world seemed nothing more than an average high school girl.

“I don’t know,” Hanna shrugged. “You did something that night. You made Toby confess to doing something you did,” she whispered, scared that someone would overhear them.

Alison finally drew her eyes away from her own reflection and looked down at the other blonde. “ **We** did,” she corrected with an angry sternness. “I made him confess to doing something **we** did.”

Hanna nibbled her lower lip, but nodded. Yes, blinding Jenna Marshall was something they all did together. Ali may have been the one to throw the firecracker but they all let her. This was their true secret; one they kept even from the boys.

Seeing that Hanna was properly cowed, Alison went back to fixing her makeup. “As for Jenna… Why don’t you just let me worry about that, Sweetie. It’s being taken care of,” she assured the blonde.

Hanna felt a chill go down her spine at those words. That’s what she was afraid of.

~

“Pogue!” Spencer yelled as she raced through the halls trying to catch up with the man. “Pogue!”

The long haired boy stopped, turning to wait for her to catch up. After a few quick seconds, she reached him. She gripped his arm to steady herself as she regained her breath.

“What’s the fire?” he asked in curiosity. Spencer was almost never this frazzled. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her so much as disheveled. She and Caleb were the calm and collected ones.

“I need a huge favor,” she admitted as they began to walk toward the cafeteria for lunch. “Can I…” she hesitated, unsure how to ask. Finally, she decided to spit it out. “Can I please move into your spare room?”

Pogue blinked in shock. “What happened to your apartment?” he asked.

Spencer sighed, but knew she had to tell him the whole story or he’d never agree. “You know Melissa got engaged, right?” She waited for him to nod his head before continuing. “Well, she wanted to move into my apartment. So, after essentially kicking me out, my parents promised to buy me a new apartment.” She raised her hand to forestall any questions. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s my family so bare with me. Anyway, I’ve moved my things into the house so that Melissa and Wren could move into the State St. place. But… something happened and it doesn’t look like my parents are going to be getting me a new apartment anytime soon. So can I please move in with you?” she asked looking up at him with her very best begging look.

“What happened?” Pogue asked, sensing that she was hiding something from him.

The brunette girl let out a sigh. She should have known better than to think she could breeze past this. “Wren and I kissed and Melissa found out.”

“Wren, her fiancé?” he asked in complete shock, but with more than a hint of being impressed. “You kissed Melissa’s fiancé?”

Spencer scowled as she looked around to see if anyone was listening in. “Yes, okay. And now my house is like fucking Siberia. And Melissa, despite no longer needing a place with her ex-fiancé, won’t give me back my apartment and my parents aren’t going to get me a new one so now I’m stuck at home with all three of them glaring at me all the time,” she said, her voice raised near a yell.

Pogue raised an impressed brow. Spencer never swore or raised her voice. She must really be upset. “Of course you can move in with me,” he said, wrapping a comforting arm around her. “We can get your stuff after school.”

~

“I hope so. Uh, listen. I have something to do first, but I’ll give you a call later, okay?” Caleb muttered lowly into the phone, conscious of his three friends waiting. He quickly hung up the phone.

“What’d she say about Kate? Why won’t she call me back?” Pogue asked worriedly.

Hanna scoffed, choosing to answer instead of Caleb. “She’s still pissed at you,” she stated obviously.

“Why are we doing this?” Spencer asked, shivering in the cold rain. She and Pogue had just barely finished moving all of her things into Pogue’s apartment when Caleb called asking them to meet him at the school.

“Because I saw the darkling again,” Caleb explained as he threw one leg over the fence and then another. He then turned to help Hanna do the same thing.

“Yeah, but why break into the admissions’ office?” Hanna asked in exasperation. Her hair was wet, her makeup was probably running and she felt like a soggy rat. She slowly crossed the fence, mindful of the fact that she was wearing heels and it was slippery.

Caleb lifted the blonde down from the fence and moved back so that Pogue could go next. “‘Cause I want to know more about Chase Collins.”

Pogue hopped the fence cleanly in one go, unlike the first two who took it one leg at a time. He turned to help Spencer but found her lithely jumping the fence as easily as he had. With a shrug, he turned to the others as they all huddled under an alcove. “Look, I don’t even like the guy. Are you sure you’re not just imagining this?”

Caleb scowled. “I’m telling you, his eyes were as black as night in the pool today.”

Spencer moved toward the admissions building. “Alright,” she nodded, agreeing to trust Caleb’s judgment. Around her, both Hanna and Pogue also nodded in agreement. As one, the four fled across the courtyard quickly, mindful of both the rain and any security guards as they quickly ran to the building they were looking for. Caleb quickly Used to unlock the door and they all crept inside. The admissions office was technically on the other side of the school in the same building as the Provost’s office, but all of the formal paperwork was stored in the back of the old school chapel which had been converted into a meeting hall.

The four quickly rifled through the ‘C’ section and it didn’t take long for them to locate the correct file. They split the papers into four, each looking through their section. “What are we looking for?” Hanna asked as she scanned through the papers.

“I don’t know. Something suspicious. Who are his parents?” Spencer responded. “If he’s one of us, it had to come from his dad. Find out about his dad.”

Caleb looked through his papers before picking up a newspaper article. “Died in a car accident,” he answered. “Says Chase’s father just lost control.”

“His real name is Pope,” Pogue said after having looked through his own stack. “Chase Goodwin-Pope born July 14.”

Hanna took this opportunity to speak up about what she found. “The Collins adopted him after his mother died when he was two years old.” The three turned to look at Caleb wondering if any of this was what he wanted to find, but Caleb wasn’t paying attention to them.

“When did you say his birthday was?” Caleb asked with a frown, scanning the article in his hands again.

“July 14,” Spencer answered, remembering the date.

“That’s the date his adoptive parents were killed. They died on his eighteenth birthday,” Caleb said significantly. A witch’s eighteenth was an important birthday. Before he could say anything else, they heard footsteps in the hallway. All four whirled around, but didn’t see anything. They quickly turned off their flashlights so that the light wouldn’t give them away. After a moment, they heard nothing. They relaxed thinking they were safe when suddenly the door flew open. The four witches exchanged a panicked look before quickly using their powers to float to the ceiling, hiding them in plain sight from the security guard.

Hanna winced when several of the papers fell from the folder she was carrying, but Spencer quickly Used. The papers hovered just above the security guards head just inches away from his face. After a quick look around, the guard left and the four teens returned to the ground.

“That was too close, man,” Pogue muttered as they all waited for several minutes for the guard to leave the building.

“He’s gone,” Spencer confirmed as she looked out the window to see the old man heading towards another building. “Let’s get out of here.”

~

“Why are you taking them to the hospital in Gloucester?” Sarah asked worried as she looked down into the sick bay. She had come back to the dorms to find a note from Kate saying that she was in the infirmary. After a phone call to the nurse, Sarah had made her way over, worried for her friend but when she arrived, she found not only Kate, but Emily too with a concerned Samara hovering by her side.

“Her temperature’s jumped to one-hundred and five and she’s showing symptoms of anaphylactic shock,” the doctor explained as he joined the two blondes.

“What does that mean?” Samara asked. 

“It’s a severe allergic reaction,” the doctor put into layman’s terms.

Sarah glanced down in true fear. “To what?” she wondered aloud.

”Well, we’re not sure. It’s as if she’d been bitten by hundreds of insects. Like spiders,” he said thoughtfully, making a note in the chart about the possibility of spiders.

~

“Goodwin-Pope,” Caleb muttered under his breath as they made their way through the main hall. “Goodwin. Goodwin-Pope. Agnes Goodwin-Pope!” he exclaimed suddenly, reaching out an arm to stop everybody. “That’s where I’ve heard it before.”

“What are you talking about?” Pogue asked in confusion.

“The Book of Damnation. They used to call her Goody Pope. Do you remember her?” he asked excitedly.

“Oh,” Spencer’s eyes widened as she remembered. “Oh!” she too exclaimed once she realized what Caleb was getting at.

“And for those of us who haven’t read the book since we were kids?” Hanna asked, impatient with all of the drama when all she wanted was to get out of her wet clothes and see if she still had time to call Rivers back.

“Just call the others,” Caleb sighed as they exited the building. “We’ll meet up at the old colony house. Spencer and I have to tell the families.” Hanna and Pogue looked at the duo in confusion but did as told and separated as the two brunets made phone calls to the families, drawing all of the Covenant parents to the Danvers’ mansion where the two teens would explain what was going on.


	8. Chapter 8

Spencer sighed as she and Caleb drew up to the decrepit old house. They had just come back from explaining their theory to the older generation. There was much yelling and arguing as each person had their own ideas about what to do with Chase if it was true, but finally the two teens managed to convince their families to let them handle it. Chase was in their generation, it was their responsibility.

The two carefully made their way down the narrow stone steps into the basement where the others were waiting. In the center of the room was an old stone table etched with magical symbols and around them were five large, ancient, stone chairs. Pogue spoke first. “I told them everything. About the Darkling, what we found in his file…”

“Where’s Emily?” Spencer asked as she searched the room for the brunette. Everyone shrugged.

“I called her but she hasn’t picked up,” Hanna said, checking her phone once more as if just talking about the girl would make her ring back. 

Alison shrugged casually. “We’ll just have to catch her up when we see her.”

Caleb reluctantly nodded before turning to the bookcase that held all of their families’ old magical texts. His eyes flashed with power as he summoned one of the books. These books were nasty old things and anyone that physically touched them, as in without the use of magic, would die. It was one of the many protections put upon them to ensure that no one but the family would be able to read these texts.

As soon as the book was inside the table, said table burst into flames along the edges. This gave the room enough light to actually read in. Caleb sat down first and as was tradition, the others all took their seats in order of birth. Alison, then Reid, Spencer, Pogue, Aria, Emily would have been next, then Hanna and lastly Tyler.

The female side of the coven had a similar room in the bottom of the DiLaurentis colony house. Because this was the Danvers’ colony house, there were only five seats for the five boys so the girls were forced to share. Because the stone chairs were so large, it was an easy if uncomfortably hard fit.

Caleb Used to flip the pages to the correct section before floating the book around the table so that everyone could see what he was talking about. “It’s a list of names of those who brought charges against John Putnam and his family during the Salem hunt. Pope was one of them. Goody Pope; widow of Jacob, mother to Hagen,” he began to explain.

“So what?” Reid asked, impatient with the history lesson.

Spencer took over. “So, she claims that John Putnam came to her as an incubus in her dreams. _After_ she was widowed.” This time she was the one using magic to flip the pages in the book to the correct section for Caleb.

“The Book also record births and deaths during the Damnation,” he continued, the book showing the list. “Goody Pope’s husband Jacob died June 4, 1692. Her son Hagen was born April 11, 1693.”

“That’s ten months and twenty-four days later,” Spencer finished seriously.

Caleb slammed the Book shut and allowed it to drop heavily to the table, the slam reflecting the dark mood as the entire Covenant swallowed, realizing what this meant.

“If what you’re saying is true and Hagen Pope is the bastard son of John Putnam then the fifth bloodline of the male Covenant didn’t end in Salem,” Tyler half question, half told as if uncertain of even his own words.

“Then Chase is one of us?” Aria asked in complete shock.

“That’s impossible,” Alison spat and suddenly everyone was reminded that she and Chase had been going out for the past several days. “He can’t be.”

“The night after the party at the Dells someone was Using. The power was strong enough to wake me. The next night it happened again,” Caleb explained.

Pogue spoke up. “I felt it then.” Spencer nodded along. It had woken her up as well.

“See, we told you,” Tyler spoke up, directing his words at Reid. Then he turned to Caleb to explain. “Aria and I felt it too.”

Caleb took a deep breath before turning to face Reid. “When you said it wasn’t you, were you lying?”

Reid looked up at him seriously. “No.” 

“You swear?” Caleb asked, making a hundred percent certain.

“I swear,” Reid answered.

Caleb turned to look at Alison. Spencer had assured her that none of the girls were Using last night, but Reid and Alison were the ones most likely to lie. If it wasn’t Reid, then he wanted to make sure it wasn’t her either. “And you?”

Alison shook her head, her blonde curls flying. “It wasn’t me.” Normally Caleb wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her. At least with Reid he could usually tell if he was lying, but with Ali he had no clue. However there was a certain seriousness to her that he had never seen before. Caleb nodded. He believed her. “Then it was him,” Caleb muttered now knowing for absolute certain.

The nine of them sat there in silence for a moment as everything began to sink in. “What are we going to do?” Tyler asked.

Caleb shook his head. “We have to try and talk to him. Figure out what he wants.”

“Now?” Reid asked, eager to get right into the middle of things.

“No, this weekend,” Spencer quickly replied. When everyone looked at her oddly, she hastened to explain. “Chase has already Ascended. If things turn bad, we won’t stand a chance. Caleb turns eighteen this Friday. We’ll wait until after that.”

Caleb nodded in agreement. It was a sound plan. Soon the others quickly agreed as well. They had no idea what Chase wanted and it was better to be safe than sorry. “As interesting as this is, I have to go this weekend,” Alison reminded them.

“What?” Caleb asked in confusion before realization dawned. “Oh, that’s right. Your grandmother’s birthday.” Alison took a couple of days off in the beginning of every school year so that she and her family could go down to visit her grandmother on the old woman’s birthday.

“I’ll be in Georgia until Monday, but I can take a look at her old spell books and see if there isn’t something that can help,” she offered in what was quite honestly rather uncharacteristic generosity.

“Thanks,” Caleb smiled accepting the offer. His phone began to ring suddenly, disturbing the quiet of the room. He checked the ID and quickly answered it. “Hey, could I call you…” he trailed off as he listened to Sarah on the other end. “Wait, wait, wait. What?” Caleb asked in complete surprise as he suddenly gave his girlfriend his full attention. “Okay, listen. I want you to go back to your dorm and wait for me there. I’ll see you soon, okay?” He hung up the phone before looking around to meet the eyes of every member of the Covenant. “He’s put a spell on Kate and Emily.”

“What?” The Covenant exploded simultaneously.

“What kind of spell?” Pogue asked.

Caleb looked reluctant to answer. “Creation. Spiders,” he gave. The creation of spiders was one of John Putnam’s favorite spells and it looked like his descendant had similar tastes. “They’re taking them to a hospital in Gloucester.” Pogue stood up, the candles flickering as he barely controlled his power in his anger. “Wait. Don’t do anything until we know-”

“You’re talking about Kate and Emily!” Pogue raged as he ran up the stairs.

Hanna swiftly got up. “I’m sorry,” she said to the others but quickly followed Pogue. Emily was her roommate and practically her sister. She was with Pogue on this.

~

The two raced down the street, Hanna clutching at Pogue’s back as they sped on his motorcycle. They had just left the outer city limits of Ipswich when Pogue suddenly stopped. Looking up, Hanna saw why. Her arms automatically clutched around Pogue as she spotted Chase in the middle of the road waiting for them.

“Come to save little our little Miss Muffets, have we?” Chase asked, his voice magically louder than normal. “Well you’re too late,” he laughed angering Pogue even further. “A spider came and sat down beside her and frightened Miss Muffet away.”

“Go,” Hanna breathed into his ear, angry on behalf of Emily and Kate. This was all the encouragement Pogue needed as he raced down the stretch of blacktop toward Chase. Chase’s eyes flashed with power and he easily threw both riders and the motorcycle over his shoulder.

Hanna and Pogue weakly attempted to get up. “Hurt them and I’ll kill you,” Pogue threatened, taking off his helmet, showing off his black eyes.

“Hurt them?” Chase laughed incredulously, his own eyes already dark. “I’ll be honest, I was aiming for Samara, but I couldn’t find the girl and Emily was already with Kate. It just seemed so easy. I only hurt them to get to you. It’s you I’m going to hurt. And you’re just my bait to get to Caleb.”

For the first time, Hanna and Pogue looked up at Chase with fear instead of anger.

~

Sarah walked down the darkened hallway as she returned to her dorm room to wait for Caleb. She had only just arrived when Caleb showed up behind her, startling her. “Oh, hey,” she smiled slightly, letting him in. “What’s wrong?” she asked noticing his solemn face.

“Have you seen Pogue?” he asked.

“No, but I called and told him about Kate,” she answered.

Caleb sat heavily down on the bed as though thoroughly exhausted. He turned to face Sarah when she sat beside him. “Well how are they?”

“Not so good,” she replied shaking her head worriedly. “But they said they’d call if there are any changes.” Suddenly there was a sharp rap on the door. “Maybe this is him,” Sarah threw over her shoulder as she opened the door only to stare in complete confusion at a second Caleb.

“Pogue and Hanna have been in an accident,” the second Caleb said seriously.

Sarah turned to look behind her and sure enough there was one Caleb on her bed and one at her door. She turned to face the second Caleb, but instead fell in a faint. She disappeared in a haze of smoke as the first Caleb transformed into Chase, Sarah now occupying the bed he was sitting on. Caleb moved to attack him, but Chase held out a hand. “Stop right there,” he threatened, making his intent toward a sleeping Sarah obvious. “Close the door,” he commanded. “Let’s just keep this between the _Sons_ of Ipswich,” he stated clearly as he conjured a spider which swiftly moved across Sarah’s body.

“Don’t hurt her. She has nothing to do with this,” Caleb said. Though he was pleading, his voice still held a hint of command to it.

Chase chuckled. “Whether she lives or dies is entire up to you, my friend.” Chase looked up at Caleb with a sneer. “You can’t imagine what it was like growing up not knowing what this was. When I finally found my real father he filled in all the missing pieces, but it was too late. I was hooked. By then he was such a bitter old man – or I should say bitter old young man – that all he wanted to do was end the suffering.” Caleb finally tore his eyes away from the spider to focus on Chase as he realized what the boy was saying. “Like all our bloodline before us, he was more than willing to break the laws of your sacred little club.” Chase’s eyes went dark for a second as he thought about that day before a smile made its way across his face. “So I got him to give me his share of the power,” he laughed as the spider simultaneously crawled into Sarah’s ear, turning her face grey. “And he died knowing that his son was going to get revenge on your ‘Covenant’.”

“You keep her under that spell and she’ll die,” Caleb said, choosing to ignore Chase’s psychotic confessional ramblings.

Chase nodded agreeably. “I know.”

“What is this all about? What do you want?” Caleb asked finally getting to the point.

“Want?” the other boy asked before savagely knocking over the nightstand in anger. “I’m Chase Collins. I have everything I could possibly want. It’s what I need. More power.” Chase moved around the dark haired man as he idly looked around the room. “Tomorrow night, birthday boy, at the exact moment you Ascend be at Putnam Barn where you _will_ will me your power. Do that and I’ll let her live,” he nodded toward Sarah before continuing his list. “And Pogue and Kate and Spencer and Reid and your mom! What’s left of the families. ” He broke a bobble purely to illustrate how easily he could break everybody Caleb loved. “And don’t think I won’t kill them,” he threatened calmly. “It comes natural to me. Just ask my adoptive parents.”

“You killed that kid at the Dells,” Caleb finally said, something that had been niggling on his mind since he found out the truth about Chase.

Chase nodded easily. “Well, he caught me doing a little magic. At first he wasn’t sure, but then... Well, he just wouldn’t leave it alone. So I caught a ride with him over to the bonfire.” Seeing that Caleb was distracting him, Chase turned his eyes to Sarah, Using to make her pain increase.

“No, what are you doing?” Caleb asked.

“Just making sure I’m making my point.” Chase turned back to look at Caleb whose eyes had gone black in anger. Before Caleb could do anything, Chase had him on the ceiling before throwing him from wall to wall and then dropping him to the ground. Chase then picked him up and threw him into the bathroom, making sure that Caleb hit the mirror hard.

Chase started laughing hysterically as he came up to Caleb who was lying on the ground surrounded by shattered glass. “Do you see my problem here?” he asked through his laughter before visibly calming down. “I like to Use. A lot. Only no one ever told me about the, uh, effects; the damage, the addiction. And we both know what happens, now don’t we?” Chase kicked Caleb onto his back so that the boy was looking up at him. “So, the way I see it, I add your power to what I already have-”

Caleb interrupted him. “It won’t stop the aging. Your father obviously found out the hard way.”

Chase grabbed Caleb’s shirt looking infuriated. “My father never had this kind of power.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Caleb corrected, croaking as he struggled to breathe. “It’s the body that wears down, not the power.” Chase grabbed his face as though thinking about snapping his neck of strangling him when he forced himself to calm down.

“Just think of yourself as a sacrificial lamb,” Chase said, blatantly ignoring Caleb’s words. “Hell, you’re already their golden boy,” he laughed before dropping him to the floor. “Why not go out a real hero? So tomorrow night, the barn. Where it all started. A birthday party; just you and me. It’s either you or them… brother.” He smirked giving the boy a sloppy kiss on the cheek before leaving the bathroom, heading for the door.

“Don’t leave her like that,” Caleb called weakly, seeing that Chase was leaving. “She’ll die.” Chase smirked but removed the spell before exiting.

Caleb winced and sat up, slowly making his way to the bed as Sarah woke up. “What happened?” she asked.

The boy was silent as he tried to figure out an excuse. “You passed out when I told you…” Caleb hesitated.

“What?” Sarah asked worriedly.

“Pogue and Hanna have been in an accident.”


	9. Chapter 9

Caleb bent low over Pogue’s hospital bed, thinking… praying. Suddenly, Pogue jerked awake. As soon as he saw Caleb hovering by his side, he spoke. “Stay away. He’s more powerful than you can imagine,” Pogue practically begged.

Caleb shook his head. “Hey, don’t worry about that,” he said soothingly, trying to calm his brother. He already knew first hand how powerful Chase was.

But Pogue wasn’t being calmed. “We can’t stop him,” he replied, his voice broken. Caleb swallowed harshly. Yes, he knew that too. As Pogue’s eyes fluttered shut, Caleb left the room to join the others. Reid and Tyler had been hovering over Pogue the entire time and Aria and Spencer had just come in from visiting Hanna and Emily. Their whole Covenant was a mess.

“How is he?” Aria asked, looking at Pogue’s weak form worriedly.

“Well, he’s hurt pretty bad,” Caleb stated obviously, not sure what else he could possibly say. “Where’s Sarah?” he questioned, half trying to change the subject.

“Waiting room,” Tyler immediately responded.

Reid was undeterred. He couldn’t be distracted from the problem at hand. “I say we all go after Chase. Right now.”

“Listen, it may not be that easy,” Caleb answered solemnly, clapping the blond’s shoulder comfortingly. “Split up, stay here with Pogue, Hanna and Emily. Someone keep an eye on Kate too. Call me if there’s a change.” He turned around, counting heads before rolling his eyes. “Where the hell is Alison?”

The two girls looked around as if surprised that their leader wasn’t there. “She was with us when we went to see Hanna and Emily,” Spencer replied, looking confused.

“I could have sworn she was right behind us,” Aria muttered, looking around the room as if she expected Alison to be hiding.

Caleb sighed, well used to his fellow leader’s antics. “Whatever. One of you has to come with me. Sarah’s asking a lot of questions and I’m sure she’s shared her questions with Samara.”

“I’ll go,” Aria offered.

“No,” Spencer immediately shot down. She reached a hand out and laid it on the petite girl’s arm, rubbing it comfortingly. “You stay here with Hanna,” she said softly before turning to look at Tyler. “And you stay with Emily. I’ll track down Alison and get her to sit on Kate until her flight leaves in the morning.” She turned once more to speak to Aria. “Let me worry about damage control.”

~

Caleb and Spencer slowly walked down the hallway, their hands linked for comfort. Finally Spencer spoke up. “You’re not telling me something.”

The boy sighed. He should have known better than to think he could hide anything from her. “He has his father’s power.”

Spencer’s hand automatically clenched in fear around Caleb’s, but she gave no other reaction to his news. “We can’t beat him, can we?” she finally whispered softly. Caleb said nothing, but raised their combined hands to kiss the back of hers, hoping that his action would comfort her at least a little bit.

They heard a yell echo through the halls coming from the other end of the hallway. Looking back, they watched in surprise as Jenna Marshall struck Alison across the cheek. Alison yelled something vicious that made Jenna start crying, but did nothing physical to the girl. The two argued some more before a boy came and intervened.

“Toby Cavanaugh’s back too?” Caleb said in surprise. Toby appeared to successfully break up the fight. Alison disappeared into Pogue’s room and Jenna and Toby made their way into a separate room. “Are you going to catch Alison?” Caleb asked, still shocked at what he had witnessed.

“No,” Spencer replied hastily. “Aria can tell her.” The truth was Spencer had no interest in going anywhere near Jenna, not after what they did to the girl and Alison was clearly pissed off which was an even worse combination. The two just continued to walk down the stairs to where Sarah and Samara were waiting, untangling their fingers as they went.

“How’s Pogue?” Sarah asked the minute the two came into view.

“He’s not good,” Caleb answered honestly. “What about Kate and Emily? Have you heard anything?”

“They’re stabilized, but they’re still really sick,” Samara answered.

Caleb gave a tired sigh and nearly collapsed in one of the chairs. Sarah quickly sat down next to him. “Caleb, look me in the eye and tell me the truth. The spiders,” as soon as she said the words, both Spencer and Caleb looked away from the girl, already not liking where this was heading, “they’re one of the charges against John Putnam. They’re some kind of spell, aren’t they?” Sarah asked uncomfortably, as though unsure of her own question. Samara took looked interested, but unbelieving. Sarah had clearly already told the other girl her theory before confronting Caleb.

Caleb looked at her a moment before tearing his eyes away to look up at Spencer in askance. The girl just gave a helpless shrug, unsure of what to say either. Caleb turned back to the blonde. “I want to show you something. And then I’ll explain everything.”

“Caleb!” Spencer warned sharply.

“They’re already in this, Spence,” Caleb sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “They need to know what they’re up against.”

~

The two girls looked worriedly at the horizon as Caleb parked his car. He turned to look at Sarah. “Don’t be afraid.” Spencer also nodded reassuringly at Samara as all four climbed out of the car and headed into the old colony house.

“What about your caretaker?” Sarah asked once they stepped inside, clearly remembering the way Gorman had fired a warning shot at them when Caleb first took her to see the house.

“It’ll be okay,” Caleb reassured as he gripped her hand and led the group up the stairs to the attic. At the top there was a dimly lit room filled with jars and books. An old man stood in the center.

“What are you doing?” Gorman asked once he spotted the two blondes with Spencer and Caleb.

“It’s alright.”

“Caleb,” Gorman warned.

“This is important to me, Gorman,” Caleb stated resolutely. Gorman frowned but did nothing as the group came closer. Sarah and Samara looked around, frowning when they realized that the jars were more than jars, but were actually medicine. As they came closer they realized there was someone else in the room, sitting in the chair in front of the fire. He was clearly old, maybe even a hundred, and was hooked up to a respirator. It was clear now the Gorman was not the caretaker of a house, but of a person.

Both blonds gave a startled gasp when the old man’s eyes flickered open. He gave a large smile when he saw Caleb, but Caleb didn’t return the look. “This is William Danvers III,” Caleb whispered. “My father.” Caleb turned his head, unable to look at the decrepit old man any longer. Only Spencer noticed that Caleb’s action caused William’s smile to fade. She reached out and laid her hand comfortingly on the old man, crouching down beside him. She knew how hard it was for Caleb to look at this aged version of the man he loved so much, but she still pitied William, for though he chose power over his own family, he did still love his son. “He’s forty-four years old,” Caleb finished, looking only at Sarah.

William opened his mouth, trying to speak though he knew that he couldn’t. Spencer rubbed his hand carefully. She knew what he wanted to say to Caleb; that he was sorry, that he loved him, that he wished things could be different. She laid her head on his lap, turning to face the fireplace so that no one could see the tears leaking from her eyes. She had grown up loving William as much as the rest of the Covenant. She wished there was something she could do for Caleb and his father but knew there was nothing.

~

“…Every generation the bloodlines produce only one: the eldest male,” Caleb finished explaining. The group had left the old colony house and they were now sitting on an old stone bridge out in the middle of dense forest as Spencer and Caleb took turns explaining the truth of what had been happening.

“Or in our case, the eldest female,” Spencer added.

“And you’ve always had this power?” Samara asked, apparently finally believing the tale that was being wove for her.

“At thirteen you get a taste of it. It’s a test in a way. At eighteen, we Ascend and our powers fully mature.” Caleb gave a wry smirk. “And its seductive. And some can handle it. And others, like my father, couldn’t. Tonight at twelve minutes past eleven, I’ll Ascend.”

“And what if you don’t will him your share,” Sarah asked.

Caleb shook his head. “He’s already got his father’s. It makes him very powerful.”

“And what if someone wills you their share?” Sarah asked desperately.

“It’s against the laws of the Covenant.” Spencer answered with regret having quite honestly already considered that option.

“And even if it weren’t, I wouldn't let them,” Caleb said.

Samara looked confused. “Why not?”

“When one Ascends, the power becomes your life. It’s why it ages you…” Spencer started.

“Will it away and you die,” Caleb finished. He watched as realization finally sunk into the two blondes about what it was exactly that Chase wanted him to do.

~

“Caleb, you cannot do this alone. We have to go to the others,” Evelyn begged her son.

“We can’t do that. He’ll kill us all, including you.” He turned to look at her seriously. “Pogue is the final warning.”

“Then we have to go to your father,” she said, desperately trying another approach.

“No,” Caleb spoke resolutely. “I know what you’re thinking, mother and you know what will happen.”

“But he loves you.” Evelyn reached out to gently cup her son’s face.

“Well, then he’ll die with that secret.” He gently removed her hands and clasped them in his own. With a sigh, she moved away from him. “Where’s Sarah?”

“Upstairs changing with the other one. Samara. You should never have involved them,” Evelyn scolded. He had broken the laws of the Covenant by bringing in outsiders that weren’t his wife. She was also upset that he and Spencer had broken up. She had been so sure that those two would get married and have powerful children for the Covenant.

“You’re right,” he admitted causing her to turn to look at him. “But I can’t change the past and he’s using her against me. All of you,” he said turning to look at what was left of his brothers and sisters – Spencer, Aria, Reid and Tyler – who had sat silently in the room, allowing mother and son time to talk. They all were dressed up for the Fall Fest. Tyler wore a black suit with a black skinny tie and a grey sweater vest, Spencer wore a mustard colored dress with black leather accents, Aria a red and black striped dress and Reid wore slacks, a white button up with an orange shirt underneath, a blazer and his usual black fingerless gloves. “And it’s going to stop,” Caleb finished before turning his attention to the boys. “I want you to take Sarah and the girls to the dance. I’ll meet you there. I don’t think he’ll try anything with Sarah and Samara in the open.”

“Would you just let us help you?” Reid exploded, unable to keep his silence any longer. “You know we’ve got your back.”

“I know you do,” Caleb answered. “But please. Just once, do what I ask?”

Tyler gave a reluctant nod for the four of them. As Caleb withdrew, a flash of movement caught his eyes. Sarah and Samara had finished getting ready and were descending the stairs. “Wow,” he muttered, his full attention on Sarah as he made his way toward her to hold her hands.

“You look beautiful, my dear,” Evelyn complimented, though she continued to eye Spencer. She clearly still had hope for the broken up couple. Spencer shifted uncomfortably and when Caleb asked if they were all ready, she practically jumped from her seat in her haste to head to the car.

“You look great too,” Aria complimented Samara. “I’m sorry Emily couldn’t be here.”

Samara nodded with a tense smile, still clearly unsure of herself amidst all the witches and drama. Sarah and Caleb spoke softly before he hugged her and sent her to the Hummer. Spencer stayed behind to speak to Caleb. “You aren’t coming to the Fall Fest,” she stated simply. Caleb gave a sigh. He really should know better than to try and get one by her. “Let me come with you,” Spencer begged, reaching out to tightly grip his hand.

He gave another sigh before tugging her into a hug like he had Sarah. “You know I can’t,” he muttered into her hair before releasing her and going to his car. It was time to meet Chase.

~

Caleb dialed Reid, anxious for news as he sped along the dirt road toward the Putnam Barn. “Hey, any sign of him?” he asked the second he heard someone pick up.

“No,” Reid answered taking a quick look around.

“Good. Listen I’m on my way,” Caleb lied. “If he does show, please promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

“I know,” Reid grunted reluctantly.

“How’s Sarah doing?” Caleb asked, changing the subject. “Can I talk to her?”

“Yeah, she’s fine, man. Hang on,” Reid turned to give the blonde girl the phone but looked around in shock realizing Sarah was gone. Tyler too looked around for the blonde.

“She was just here,” Tyler said, looking through the crowd frantically.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Caleb asked before braking suddenly. Chase had just appeared out of nowhere, jumping onto the hood of his car. He could vaguely hear Reid calling his name frantically but was more concerned with the shattered glass of his car as Chase showed off his dangerous powers.

Getting out of the car, Caleb made a frantic dash for the old Putnam Barn, instinctively knowing that’s where he was keeping Sarah. “You know,” Chase spoke from behind him causing Caleb to whirl around. “I’m just getting the feeling that you’re not gonna keep up your end of the bargain. So, I took out a little insurance policy.” Chase’s eyes flared with power as he pointed to something behind Caleb. Turning his head, he saw Sarah floating in what could only be called stasis. She was held aloft in midair and seemed to be completely asleep. “She does look quite stunning,” Chase complimented. “You touch her and she dies. In fact, time’s running out for Sarah so why don’t we get down to business?” Caleb let his own power flare as he caused the barn to shake dramatically, but Chase just burst into laughter. “Oooh, witchy!” he grinned before making the barn stop shaking. “Oops, did I just say witch?” he laughed some more. “I’ll make this easy for you. How about an accident? You lose control of the car on your way to the pathetic little dance. Trust me, I’m good at car accidents. Everyone will miss you, they’ll say great things about you. Only the Covenant will know the real truth but to them you’ll become a legend; the one who gave his life for them.”

“How about you let her go and I’ll let you live out your life,” Caleb bluffed.

Chase laughed. Clearly he knew it was a bluff too. “How about I make you my wiotch,” he joked.

“I’ll never will you my power.”

Chase just shrugged. “Looks like trouble for Sarah.”

“I’ll never let that happen,” he swore.

“Fine, let’s do it your way.” And with that Chase threw the first powerball, violently knocking Caleb off his feet and into the wall.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> music is Hands of Time by Rachel Diggs.

_Another day is gone_  
Washed away with sorrows that you dwelled upon  
And as the moon is rising, you think to yourself  
I could be gone, if I go now

~

Caleb tried to drag himself up and out from a fallen beam, but Chase just kept throwing powerballs while he was down. “Like taking candy from a baby,” he smirked.

Pissed off, Caleb gave a grunt before sending a powerball of his own to knock Chase off his feet. Chase quickly got up and started sending one shot of energy after another, but Caleb just dodged them going back and forth and flying up and down. Chase got in a lucky shot and dragged Caleb across the room before throwing him through the loft floor.

Caleb weakly struggled to stand up, but didn’t see the boy any longer. “Easy as pie,” Chase taunted from behind him causing Caleb to whirl around. As soon as he had turned, Chase threw another energy ball at him causing him to hit a beam.

~

“You find her?” Tyler asked as he and Reid met back up in the courtyard.

“No,” Reid responded having looked everywhere.

Aria shook her head but kept her grip on Samara’s hand firm. “I can’t believe you guys lost Sarah while we were working on scouting the gym.”

“Look-” Reid replied angrily before cutting himself off. It would be no use getting angry with the girls. It wasn’t their fault that he and Tyler dropped the ball. He looked down at his watch and gave the others a worried look. “Twelve minutes past eleven.”

“Happy birthday, Caleb,” Spencer whispered staring up at the sky in fear.

~

Caleb gave a scream as lightning struck his body and a huge surge of power came off his body in waves. Chase floated to the ground for a better look. “Are we Ascending?” he laughed. “Finally!” He threw a powerball at the boy’s chest knowing that Caleb was in too much pain to fight back. “Scary, huh, Caleb? This new power you get when you Ascend. Frankly, I don’t think you’re cut out for it, so why don’t we just call it a night? Just say the words.” Caleb finally ceased screaming as his body liquefied and reformed. He quickly looked up and began sending a barrage of powerballs in Chase’s direction. “Okay, I’m a little impressed,” Chase laughed, wiping the dirt of his clothes. “Not bad.”

“Thanks,” Caleb spoke from behind the boy, causing him to whirl around in shock at their reversed positions. Caleb swiftly threw a powerball, knocking Chase through three stables.

Chase got up with a laugh. “Trying to impress your date, huh?” he asked gesturing toward the slumbering Sarah. Angered, Caleb threw another shot of energy, but Chase ducked before sending a large plow in Caleb’s direction. Caleb ducked but the move gave him an idea and he looked at a large rack of farming tools and sent a multitude of pitchforks at the other boy. Chase Used to deflect them and when Caleb sent an energy blast, he plucked it out of this air, causing Caleb to pause in shock. Chase then sent the ball back, causing the surprised boy to fall back into a large pile of wood and crates. Caleb could no longer get up, he was in so much pain. Chase gripped his hair tightly and shoved his head up forcing him to look at Sarah. “You ready to say uncle?”

“I’m ready for you to go to hell,” he sassed back.

With a flare of his eyes, Chase caused a fire to come to life near Sarah’s body. He then levitated Caleb up and flung him out a window into the harsh rain outside.

“Just say the words,” Chase spoke, serious for the first time that night as he stalked closer to the injured boy. “Say the words and it’s all over.” When Caleb remained silent, Chase dropped to his knees to hover over the boy. “Come on. Say it. Say the words. I…” Chase started off.

“I,” Caleb mimicked.

“Will you…” Chase continued.

“Will you.”

“…” Chase nodded waiting for the rest of the sentence.

“Nothing,” Caleb snarled as he kicked a leg out, smashing into Chase’s face with both his foot and a powerball.

~

 _You can't turn back the hands of time_  
Just let it go and you'll be fine  
What's done is done and it’s alright  
You can’t turn back the hands of time

~

“He is your son,” Evelyn begged her husband with tears in her eyes. “For once in your life think of someone other than yourself.”

“I,” William Danvers used what was left of his magic to speak despite being physically unable to, “will you my power.” His eyes flared with fire one last time before glazing over in death.

~

Caleb looked down in surprise, unsure of how he caught Chase’s powerball. He glanced up in time to see lightning strike him for the second time that night.

Chase too looked at the sky in confusion before realizing someone must have willed the boy their power. He lunged at Caleb while the brunet was still distracted with the new power, but Caleb threw his charged powerball and sent Chase into a fiery inferno.

Caleb quickly made his way into the burning barn, making his way to Sarah. He gently lifted her up out of the stasis spell and carried her outside. He laid her on an old cart and gently stroked her cheek, hoping to see her wake up. He gave a wide grin when her eyes fluttered open, looking around in confusion. Across town, Hanna, Pogue, Emily and Kate also woke up from the spells that Chase put them under.

~

 _Life is a carousel_  
Dancing round the mirrors, we go up and down  
So let the music take away the hurt you've come to know so well  
Let it go 'cause...

~

“Caleb!” Spencer screamed as she jumped out of the Hummer to look upon the burning wreckage of the Putnam Barn.

“We’re okay, Spence,” Caleb called out from behind a fire truck. He was leaning against his car and Sarah sat inside, curled up around a blanket the EMT gave her. When the four got closer, he whispered a quick. “Chase died in the fight.”

“Oh thank god,” Aria muttered turning to hug Reid. She had never been so terrified in her life.

“And Emily?” Samara asked worriedly.

“Sarah’s out from his spell so I bet they are as well,” Spencer answered. “We’ll head to the hospital soon,” she promised.

“Look, see,” Caleb nodded as the EMT brought out a gurney with a black body bag on it. “Chase will never bother us again,” he stated resolutely, gripping Sarah’s hand tightly.

Suddenly, several cell phones rang at once. Spencer, Caleb, Reid, Aria and Tyler all brought out their phones to read a surprising message.

**Chase might be gone, but I’m still here. And I know everything. Better watch out, bitches. -A**

There was a scary and uncomfortable silence as the message sank in.

“It’s probably Alison messing with us,” Spencer laughed uncomfortably, though she didn’t sound certain.

Caleb nodded. “Yeah, sounds like Ali.”

A policeman came up to the teens, looking at Caleb. “I’m sorry, Mr. Danvers. We searched the area, but we didn’t find Mr. Collins.”

The teens all turned to look at the gurney in confusion. “Then who’s that?” Caleb asked.

The cop shifted uncomfortably. “I’m afraid that's Miss DiLaurentis,” he finally admitted after an internal debate. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Wait, what?” Aria cried out. “There’s some sort of mistake! Alison’s in Georgia.”

The cop turned to look at her sympathetically. “I’m afraid there’s no mistake, ma’am. That _is_ Alison DiLaurentis.” He turned to look at the group. “Again, I’m sorry for your loss,” he apologized before leaving the devastated teens.

Once more, five phones rang signaling a message.

**Sorry, did I say bitches? I meant to say witches. See, I do know everything. Don’t worry. You’ll hear from me again soon. –A**

**~**

_You can't turn back the hands of time_  
Just let it go and you'll be fine  
What's done is done and it’s alright  
You can’t turn back the hands of time


End file.
